The IT Guy
by MeatLips
Summary: Mark Goldman has just gotten the job of his dreams: Working as local IT support for his favorite team of superheroes, the Teen Titans. Hopefully he can keep his hero worship down to a dull roar, especially when it comes to his favorite Titan.
1. Chapter 1

_So for the record, this isn't a self-insert. I am much older, heavier, and prettier than Mark, the original character in this. At any rate, this has been kicking around my head for a few weeks now, so I figured what the hell, I'd post it up and see if I get flamed and how badly. I've only recently gotten back to writing again, so I've been treating any mental drek as story gold if I actually get it written. I kind of have an idea where this story is going, and yeah, I do sort of intend a pair-up between Raven and Mark. Right now I've been concentrating on making sure there's no chance in hell of Mark becoming a Gary Stu. Also, this is my first foray into first-person POV story-telling, so it's a bit of an experiment. For the most part, it's rough as hell and I'm not sure I've caught all spelling or grammar mistakes._

 _Constructive reviews are most welcome._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

I couldn't help but look around the small office as I sat before the desk. My stomach was doing flip-flops. That morning, I had thrown-up from anxiety, so at the very least my stomach was empty at that point.

I glanced down at my ill-concealed paunch. I could easily admit to myself that I wasn't in the greatest shape. At 5'8", I could have stood to drop twenty pounds or so. It's like most people I that I know who went to college came out in good shape or at least attempted to stay in shape once they left the pristine campus of university life. Me? I went to college and studied computer science and engineering while relatively in good shape. I came out four years later twenty pounds overweight. I guess living off of pizza and Ramen noodles will do that to you. Meh.

I took off my glasses and nervously cleaned them. Yeah, I was anxious. Who wouldn't be? The opportunity to work with genuinely certified super-heroes was like a wet dream to me. Ok, maybe "wet" is a poor choice of words, but it hardly belied my excitement at being there.

I put my glasses back on and tried my damndest to not stare in sheer awe at the half-metal man behind the desk who was reading through my resume on a tablet. This was Cyborg, man! Cyborg! I had followed the exploits of the Teen Titans since my last year of high school and all through college. Even though Cyborg was only a year younger than me, he was my hero. Hell, all the Titans were my heroes. I wasn't exactly the most popular dude in high school, so my outlet was the world of superheroes. Not like you could avoid them since they were always on the news and all over the web. I guess I was kind of shy, but whenever I got home I'd be all over the Titan's official site to see what they had been up to.

I guess I ought to put a little backstory here as to why I was sitting in Titan's Tower in the bay at Jump City. I certainly wasn't there to interview for a position on the team itself. Life had tossed me a few curveballs, but any sort of meta-human abilities or martial skill wasn't one of them. I'm a Boston boy, born and bred. I went to Gotham University in Gotham on a small technology scholarship and studied CompSci. When I got out, I managed to get an internship at Wayne Technologies, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. After being there a year, I transitioned to a full time gig at Wayne Tech. The salary wasn't too bad and I made enough to keep my cat Melvin in food and litter while I paid off my exorbitant school loans.

I had just turned 23 when my boss called me into his office and asked if I would be interested in moving to the west coast. There was a position opening up at a secure site in Jump City. I just had to fly out for an interview and if they liked me, I'd be transferred. There would be a bit of a pay bump and Wayne Tech would cover moving costs. Naturally I was totally into this. Little did I realize who I'd be working for.

"So, Mark," Cyborg said, looking up from my resume, "I just have a few questions."

He put down the tablet and folded his big metal hands together. He focused his human eye on me, while I could swear that his artificial eye was scanning me up and down.

"If I wanted to upgrade the network here at the Tower, what would you suggest as a network design? Let's talk speed, hardware, and security."

I thought for a moment before answering.

"That's easy. I'd run 10G BaseT to every room."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. Well, his only eyebrow.

"BaseT, huh? Why not fiber?"

"Well sir," I said, "Copper cat6A is backwards compatible with 1000-BaseT, so anyone could plug their laptop or desktop into any wall port. Assuming they didn't want to use the wireless network."

"How would you architect it?"

"Well, Wayne Tech makes a switch that has port speed support of 100/1000/10000 copper twisted pair. So I would put a 24 port model on each floor and run 40G fiber cross connects to them."

"So run a cross connect to each switch as opposed to running them in serial?"

I shrugged. "You could run them in serial, and it probably would be less expensive, but if you lose a switch on any floor, you would lose connectivity to the floors above it."

Cyborg smiled. "So that's speed and hardware. What about security?"

"My boss back on the east coast told me this was a secure site," I said, "I wouldn't even be here without security clearance Wayne Tech got for me. So I would expect to use at least two of Wayne Tech's military grade firewall appliances in a two tiered configuration. I would also firewall off the wireless network. Internal shielded hardwire is more secure than broadcast wi-fi, so it would need to be protected at your primary gateway, hence the two tiered config."

Cyborg stood up and held out his hand. He gave me a big grin.

"Awesome. You're hired. When can you move out here?"

I stood up, feeling victorious. I grasped his big metal hand in mine and gave it a hearty shake.

"I just gotta find a place to stay in the city, then I can move out immediately."

Cyborg arched that eyebrow again. "They didn't tell you?" he asked.

"Tell me what?"

He let go of my hand and gestured around the office.

"We have a room for you here," he said, "you'd be staying here at Titan's Tower."

"Really?" I exclaimed, "I mean, yeah! That's awesome!"

I stopped for a moment. "Hey, is it alright if I bring my cat? I'll keep him in my room. He won't get underfoot or anything, and I'll make sure he doesn't shed on anything!"

Cyborg chuckled. "Dude, we got a changeling on the team that can change into any animal. We're not worried about cat hair."

"Oh yeah," I said, "Beast Boy!"

"Oh, you know about us?"

"Come on man, you guys are the Teen Titans! You guys are like my heroes!" I grinned, "But I swear, I won't let any hero worship interfere with my work. I am a professional, so I will limit my awe-filled stares to off-hours."

Cyborg laughed as he came around the desk. He put a big steel mitt on my shoulder.

"How old are you, Mark?" he asked.

"I just turned 23."

"So you're only a year or so older than me, and I'm the oldest one on the team." He gave my shoulder a squeeze that brought tears to my eyes. I hid the pain. "So I think you'll fit in just fine with the rest of us. It's gonna be a bit of a learning curve for us too. You'd be the first civilian to live here."

A week later, Melvin (my cat) and I moved into our new digs in Titan's Tower. Cyborg took me around to introduce me to the Teen Titans. I made sure I wore my best outfit, nice slacks, dress shirt, and my Doc Martens shoes, (which were in dire need of being replaced with a pair that didn't look beaten to hell) and I groomed and neatened my mustache and beard. No, I didn't have a neck-beard. I had one of those short but neatly groomed face warmers most IT guys seemed to be issued like standard equipment. My mother and sister always told me they hated my beard, but I liked it. I felt it gave my face character. It also did a good job of hiding the roundness of my cheeks which I had hoped would go away once I dropped some weight.

The Teen Titans are simply an awesome group of kids. The youngest at the time was Beast Boy and the oldest was Cyborg, with everyone else sort of falling in between. Robin was the first to greet me. He was about my height, but powerfully built. Not overly muscular, but I could feel this steel-like strength when I shook his hand. In some ways he reminded me of some of the douche-bag jocks I knew in high school, but unlike them, Robin had this relaxed confidence and this graceful way of moving. Almost like a predator. He had this weird aura that wasn't quite alpha-male, but I could easily see why he was the leader of the group. This was a man who always seemed like he would know what to do, no matter the situation.

Beast Boy was the second Titan I met. He was a bit shorter than me, but he also exuded an easy confidence born from years of experience with a top notch team.

"Dude! So you're like our new resident geek?" He grabbed my hand and gave me a lopsided grin which exposed a fang. "Welcome aboard!"

"Indeed! Welcome to the onboard!" Starfire had floated over and I was immediately struck by her exotic beauty. I decide that her online pics never did her true justice, even though I had always thought she was beautiful in those. Tall, orange-skinned, with flaming red hair that cascaded down her back like a molten waterfall and green eyes that seemed to glow with delight.

Cyborg looked around the main operations room. "You know where Raven is, Star?" he asked.

"I believe she is in her room," Starfire responded. She shrugged with a gentle rolling of her exposed shoulders. "she said she did not want to be disturbed."

"Oh well," Cyborg said, turning back to me, "I'm sure you'll meet her later."

"Yeah, later," I replied. I will admit that I was really disappointed. Of all the Titans, in my deepest darkest heart, it was always Raven who was my favorite. Back in my last year of high school I had carried a major torch for that reclusive Titan. Being four years younger than me made it awkward to remind myself that Raven was only 14 when I first became aware of the Teen Titans. Hey, I was only 18 and not prone to dating anyone at the time. I did have a girlfriend in college who was into the whole Goth scene. But I'll never admit that I only dated her because she reminded me of Raven. At any rate, I still harbored some feelings for that dark Titan, but I was smart enough and professional enough to think there was no chance of anything happening between her and me. Afterall, she's a Teen Titan and a reluctant celebrity with a suprisingly large following online. I was just some schlub computer engineer with a paunch.

"Oh, friend Mark!" Starfire suddenly said, pulling out her cellphone, "I shall send you the friend invite on the Facebook!" She looked at me with a wide grin that reached up to her amazing eyes. "Will you accept the invite?"

"Of course!" I replied with a returned smile.

"Glorious!"

* * *

Three days later, I was standing on a rickety step ladder and staring at a crooked length of plastic conduit above the drop ceiling on the 7th floor of Titan Tower, about nine feet from the floor. The conduit was supposed to snap together and drop into a U-shaped bracket that was screwed to the ceiling. It was open conduit, meaning you would lay the wires in it from the top, but you couldn't see them from the bottom. I just had to move it like a half inch. Barely. Proper procedure would have me climb back down, grab my power screwdriver, climb back up, disassemble the conduit and properly align it. But the power screwdriver was down on the floor nine feet away from the bracket and all I needed to do was shift it, just a little. Also, I'm a lazy dipshit.

I wedged my flathead screwdriver behind the bracket and tried to shift the conduit.

"Come on, you douche-bag," I muttered. I applied more weight to the screwdriver and conduit. I could feel it slightly flexing. "Oh come on, you fucker."

Murphy's Law and I never got along. Personally, I always thought Murphy was a pessimistic dick. Sort of a "glass half empty" kind of guy. It's just that he was often right, at least his stupid law was.

The step ladder fell away and clattered to the floor of the hallway leaving me hanging nine feet up from a length of plastic conduit that was never designed to bear the body weight of a human. Especially someone who could stand to drop twenty pounds. Then it snapped like a dry twig.

"Oh sh-!"

I landed on my back and lay there stunned for a moment, trying to regain my wind. Then my stupid flathead screwdriver fell point first towards my face. Fortunately, it stopped mid-air about an inch from my left eye. I noticed it was encased in some kind of black energy field or something. It was surreal. I had never seen anything like it. So I lay there like an idiot, staring at my floating screwdriver. Then I heard a dry feminine voice.

"Are you alright?"

I lifted my head and stared up and found myself looking up at the elusive fifth Titan. Raven. She stood there looking down at me. In one pale elegant hand, she held an open book with two more books held under her other arm. She wore her customary dark blue cloak with the hood down, revealing her face. I quickly jumped up and grabbed my floating screwdriver.

"Um, y-yeah!" I stammered, "Yeah, I'm ok!"

Magazine articles, pictures on the web, nothing, nothing could compare to meeting Raven in person. She was shorter than me, probably around 5'3" or so. Her face had this delicate elfin-like beauty that was framed by her dark purple hair which seemed to hang down into points just below her pointed chin. Her eyes were like a pair of amethysts set into her heart-shaped face and a single red bindi jewel rested just below the point of her delicate widow's peak.

She stared intently into my face, her eyes seeming to bore right through to my soul, before she cleared her throat. I mentally slapped myself for staring.

"You must be Mark, the IT guy?" Raven asked.

"Um yeah!" I said. I stuck out my hand awkwardly. "It's nice to meet you, Raven! I'm Mark, the IT guy, which you already know..."

She arched a single elegant eyebrow. Then she closed her book and tucked it with the books under her other arm before grasping my hand in a brief handshake. Her hand felt small in mine, but her grip was strong and warm.

"Nice meeting you," Raven said. She let go of my hand and walked around me. "Try to avoid any more falling tools. It's still only your first week here."

"Yeah," I muttered, watching her disappear down the hallway, "I'm such an awkward asshole. Good job, Mark."

* * *

My "office," if you could call it that, was just a room next to my living space. Cyborg had stenciled my name on my door, and on my office door, he had stenciled "IT." Now I won't lie. I hate doing desktop support. I studied with and primarily used Linux as my main operating system on my computers as well as my work and personal laptops. I became so Windows illiterate, that I had to take bit of an online course to remember how to do stuff outside of terminal windows. Suffice to say, one of my minor responsibilities was to do desktop support. Cyborg had promised me that we could hire some outside help to come in as a desktop support specialist, but not immediately. The overall plan was to expand the Titans team by bringing in new and younger heroes, hence the infrastructure build-up. Apparently the JLU was considering expanding the resources and responsibilities of the Teen Titans to include larger areas of the West Coast and not just Jump City, though Jump City kept the Titans plenty busy.

At any rate, the following Monday morning after I finally met my favorite Titan, I found myself staring at a battered laptop and a woeful looking Beast Boy.

"So, can you fix it?" BB asked with hope in his green eyes.

"I don't know," I said, "Besides being old, what's wrong with it?"

"Well, everything runs so slow on it, and I keep getting pop-ups."

I turned on the laptop and waited for it to come online. Almost immediately after login, all kinds of porn-related pop-ups inundated the desktop. It was almost impossible to do anything. I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes.

"Dude," I said, putting my glasses back on, "I get it. You're sixteen. Porn is awesome. But you can't just click the 'ok' button on everything that comes up."

"But I don't surf porn!" Beast Boy exclaimed. I arched an eyebrow at him and his ears drooped. "Ok, so maybe I like going to some sites..."

I popped open his history folder.

"Youporn, Porntube, Redtube," I rambled off, "And what the hell is this?"

He came around my desk to see what I was looking at, then turned a shade of red that I didn't think was possible on green skin.

"TeenTitansErotica?" I asked, "You go to fanfiction porn sites about your own team?"

Beast Boy sighed, then finally shrugged. "Yeah, I do. I'm not ashamed to admit it. Some of the stuff those people write is pretty good."

"Really?" I replied, flabbergasted.

"Look," Beast Boy said with an annoyed tone, "I know you think I'm just a kid. But it's like the only relationships I'll ever be able to be involved in are the ones written on sites like this!"

"Dude, you're like sixteen," I said, "You don't think you'll find a girlfriend? Do you have any idea how many fans you have out there? You're freaking Beast Boy! There are girls by the hundreds that would murder each other to have your baby!" I arched an eyebrow at him again, "Unless you prefer boys? I mean that's totally ok and nothing to be embarassed about."

Beast Boy narrowed his green eyes at me. "First of all, eww. No, I don't prefer dudes. Second of all, there's like no chance for me to go out and meet any real women. I'm kind of recognizable, you know?"

"Yeah, but you don't need to live vicariously through fanfiction sites," I said, "Look, I didn't even start dating until I was in college."

"I totally see that."

"Hey, I will admit that I wasn't the sexy bearded ladies man back in high school that I am today," I said with a glare, "But I was in good shape and I sort of knew how to talk to people."

"Do you have a girlfriend now?"

"Well, no," I admitted, "but I haven't given up trying."

I looked back at his laptop. "Anyway... you have to admit it is a little weird to be reading fanfiction about yourself." I paused for a moment. "What's good on here?"

Beast Boy grinned and grabbed the mouse. "First of all, you wouldn't believe the amount of fanfiction here about me and Raven having a thing!"

"Really?" I repeated.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy responded. He clicked a few links. "There's tons of epic stories, though the lemon scenes are kind of creepy."

"The hell is a lemon scene?"

"Seriously?" Beast Boy's eyes widened as he looked at me. "Those are the sex scenes, dude!"

I raised my eyebrows at this. "Why do they call them 'lemon scenes?'"

"I don't know," Beast Boy admitted, "It doesn't really matter anyway. I mean look at all this! It goes back years!"

He clicked another link.

"There's lots of different shippers here," he said, "Lot's of stuff with Rob and Star, or Rob and Raven, and even Cyborg and Bumble Bee."

"Wow," I murmured, staring at all the story links.

"Yeah, the consensus seems to be that Robin and Starfire would be a thing." Beast Boy chuckled, "It's kind of funny they turned out to be right."

"Those two are together?"

"Yup," Beast Boy said, "But it's not really a public thing, so shut-up about it." He closed a couple of porn pop-ups. "I don't really like the ones about me and Raven. She's like an older sister to me." He shook his head. "I can't really imagine banging her."

"So... she's single?" I said with some forced nonchalance.

Beast Boy looked at me for a moment. Then he laughed. "Dude, seriously? You got the hots for Rae?"

I could feel my face getting red. Good thing I had the facial fur to hide some of that.

"I will admit to nothing," I replied with a huff, "Even under pain of torture. Also, if you mention that to anyone, I will personally make sure the only sites you will be able to access in the future will be nothing but muppet porn."

"Point taken. So about my laptop..."

I closed his laptop down and turned to my computer screen.

"Beast Boy, I'm going to do you a favor and just open a purchase order to get you a new machine." I nodded to his dilapidated laptop. "That one is older than dirt, has sticky keys, and enough porn and viruses to make Symantec cry. I'm going to transfer what I can to your new laptop when it comes in and physically burn that old one because I believe that to be the only way to keep it from coming back from hell."

I turned back to face Beast Boy. "Also, I will show you the proper browser plugins you need to surf porn securely so you don't jack your new one up, no pun intended."

Beast Boy grinned. "Awesome! So when would I get it?"

"I'll let you know when it's in. Begone from my sight for now, and take that abomination with you. Oh, and keep it on the guest wi-fi if you insist on using it whilst spanking the mini-beast. It's an isolated network."

* * *

Emotion was something Raven was very familiar with. It often manifested to her empathic abilities as colors and deep-rooted feelings in her gut that she would often shut out in order to maintain the order and sanctity of her inner-mind. Over the years she had become quite familiar with the other people she shared an abode with. With Robin it was the blue of a calm sea that showed his confidence in his abilities and his teammates. Starfire presented an almost fiery orange that showed her range of contentment and joy. Beast Boy gave off a static forest green that would sometimes spike with brown and reds whenever he felt mischievous. Cyborg gave off a static light blue that would also spike with brown and reds, especially when he and Beast Boy were playing a game together or playing pranks. The colors would tend to personify the personalities of her teammates.

Lately, there was a new set of colors and emotions that kept popping up on Raven's empathic radar. The new IT guy. His color range seemd to flow between a whimsical yellow to a muted green when he was content or happy with something. However, his confidence seemed to drop whenever Raven saw him. She felt him become embarassed or unsure of himself and he'd have some difficulty speaking with her. Granted, Raven had only met him a few times, so it wasn't really a big sample to examine, but at the very root of the emotional swings was his obvious infatuation. With her.

Raven wasn't entirely sure what to make of that feeling. Whenever she traveled in public with the other Titans, she kept her empathic abilities muted, but at home she didn't bother. So discovering someone was attracted to her romantically was, well, weird. It wasn't that Mark was unattractive. He was a little chubby, but kind of cute. He had a kind face and nice eyes. Not really the type to go hit on someone. Kind of shy, actually.

She sat lotus style in her room, floating steadily and unmoving a foot above the floor. There was a time when her mind felt fractured and her emotions were personfied as mirrored reflections of herself. Her meditations back then were geared for maintaining a tight control over her emotional clones lest her powers became erratic or out of control. Since her final confrontation with Trigon a few years back, Raven's emotions seemed to slowly merge and her fractured mind healed. Now in the inner sanctum of her mind she found a peaceful calm permeating her soul, especially when she meditated. She could collect her thoughts, analyze her experiences in an objective manner, and file her insights away for later introspection if she chose.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven murmured, her eyes closed.

Her calming meditation was interrupted by the loud klaxxon alarm of a Titan alert blasting through the tower.

* * *

I don't think I'll ever get used to that alarm. I was sitting in front of my computer, deep in coding mode. Whenever I start coding something, I tend to become hyper-focused, often to the exclusion of all else. I was mechanically lifting my cup of lukewarm coffee to my face, my mind walking the eldritch depths of Java application programming, when that alarm klaxxon started screaming. It even had a spinning red light right next to my office door. I had originally thought it to be a fire alarm.

My coffee splashed all over my face as I jumped.

"FUCK!"

I raced out of my office door and into my room where I grabbed Melvin (who was also startled and not too happy to be grabbed) off the bed. Then I ran into the hall towards the stairs when the klaxxon suddenly stopped. I stopped as well and looked around. Melvin expressed his displeasure with me by yowling.

Do I evacuate? I wondered, Am I supposed to wait outside for the fire department or something?

My musings were interrupted by the buzzing ring of my cell. I grabbed it off my belt and answered.

"H-hello?"

"Mark, it's Cyborg."

"Oh, dude!" I exclaimed, "was that the fire alarm?"

"No, it was a Titan alert. The team has to head into the city to do our thing."

"Ahhh," I responded. I walked back into my room and dropped Melvin on the bed. He gave me his usual glare before jumping off and crawling underneath to sulk at the indignity.

"Anyway," Cyborg said, "we'll be back in a little while."

I could hear the sound of the T-car revving in the background, followed by a "TITANS GO!" from Robin. Then the call disconnected.

I glanced back at the bed where Melvin was hiding. "The life of a superhero, huh Mel?" He growled as I went into my bathroom to grab a towel.

Around 7pm that evening, I sat in the common room that was the main entertainment/dining area for the Teen Titans. I was working on my laptop when I heard the elevator ding. The doors slid open and disgorged five weary looking Teen Titans. They didn't look so great either. Robin was sporting some fresh bruises on his face and his trademarked spikey hair was mussed up. His uniform was dirty and had some rips in the sleeves and there was a nasty looking gash on his arm that disappeared into his right glove. Starfire had dirt on her cheeks and uniform as well. Beast Boy and Cyborg were scuffed and dirty as well as bruised, and even Raven, normally nonplussed, had some jagged rips in her cloak, though her face was hidden by her hood. She looked to be the most tired one of them all.

I stood there in my dress shirt and khakis wearing my stupid bunny slippers (which I had originally kept because I thought they made me seem whimsical and funny) feeling like an asshole. I wondered if anybody really appreciated what these kids went through when they went out on those alerts. I took out my cell and walked over to them as they gathered around the table.

Robin looked up at me. "Hey Mark," he said, "sorry if the alarm bell startled you earlier. We're just going to debrief here and-"

"I'm ordering you guys pizzas," I said firmly, "my treat."

All five of the Teen Titans looked up at me in surprise.

"Cyborg, you like meat lovers, right?" I asked, dialing my phone, "Tofu and non-dairy for BB, pineapple and olive for Star... I'll also get a couple of plain cheese, a pepperoni, and a mixed veggie."

Beast Boy stared at me, wide-eyed. "Dude... why are you getting us pizzas?"

"Yeah," Robin wondered. He had a puzzled expression on his face. "I'm not complaining, and it's certainly appreciated, but why are you buying us pizza?"

"It's past seven," I answered, "you guys look like hell, so I doubt you've eaten..."

I took a deep breath. "And I wanted you guys to know that I appreciate what you do. It's a hard job. People can be dicks, but you all still risk your necks for them. I know I'm only here as your friendly neighborhood IT guy, but you guys are my heroes."

I kind of felt like a tool, laying it out for them, but that feeling quickly dissipated when I saw the grin spread across Robin's face. That grin spread to Beast Boy and Cyborg, and Starfire's eyes lit up with her usual joy rekindled.

"Thank you, Mark," Robin said.

I glanced over at Raven and saw that even she was looking intently at me from under her hood. Her expression seemed thoughtful.

The pizzas ended up costing me about seventy bucks with tip. Who knew that we could get delivery way the hell out here? However, it was worth every penny to be able to sit with the Teen Titans and listen to them laugh and talk about the things they've done. Well, listen to most of them. Raven didn't say much, but she stayed at the table with us and ate pizza. I had gotten the impression she would normally disappear to her room, but she stuck around for this impromptu pizza party. I did warn the Titans that I couldn't treat them to pizza all the time. I'm actually quite poor.

Later that evening I got the awesome opportunity to sit and chat with Robin and Cyborg. The other Titans retired to clean up and get some rest, but Robin and Cyborg were the oldest on the team. I think they felt some kind of grown-up kinship with me since I was only a year older than Cyborg. I didn't have the heart to tell them that they seemed more adult than me. Also, Cyborg opened the bottom compartment of the fridge and produced some Sam Adams. Cherry Wheat, to be exact.

"Now wait a minute," I said, after I watched Robin sit back and down a quarter of a bottle, "Isn't one of you still underage?"

Robin belched.

"I'm going to look the other way this time," Robin replied, "but that underaged person better not let me catch them drinking again."

Cyborg and I laughed at that.

"But seriously," Robin continued, "I don't drink a lot. Maybe a beer once in a while, but that's really it."

He winced as he stretched out his bandaged arm. "Too much alcohol is not good for anyone, and I can't risk being impaired in any way."

I looked over at Cyborg.

"What about you, boss? What's your excuse?"

Cyborg emptied his bottle and belched loud enough to vibrate the table.

"I just drink this stuff for the taste," he replied, "my body processes alcohol so fast, I don't even have time to get a blood alcohol level over .001, much less get a buzz."

Robin slid his empty bottle between his hands, back and forth across the table.

"We always have to be careful with addictive substances," he said with a thoughtful look, "it's too easy to find ways to blunt the worst parts of what we do. I've known at least a few major heroes who were alcoholics or drug addicts."

Robin looked up into my face. His intent gaze spoke of weary experience.

"The police usually only call us when there's a meta-human involved. Today we fought a guy named Cinderblock. We've tangled with him before. He's big, strong, made of concrete. For whatever reason, he showed up on a busy street downtown and started throwing cars around." Robin rubbed his chin. "Bad guys like him only turn up for some purpose. They rarely show up to just tear shit up. There's always a reason." Robin glanced over at Cyborg. "I'm going to have to run a check on any reports of weird activity going on around the city."

Robin stood up and stretched, then dropped his empty bottle in the recycling bin. He turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Once again, thank you for the pizzas Mark," he said, "You have no idea how much we appreciated it."

With that, Robin turned and headed off to bed. I glanced over at Cyborg.

"You guys looked like someone had ripped off your lunch money when you came back."

"Yeah, that's what happens when a fifteen foot concrete douche-canoe throws cars at you," he said, putting the rest of the beer away, "And the owners of said cars get pissed off and think it's your fault."

My eyes widened at that.

"Man, that's total bullshit."

"Hm. I guess your perspective changes when you see your $80,000 Tesla get thrown at a superhero and that hero just gets everybody out of the way instead of catching it."

Cyborg leaned against the counter and looked at me.

"Seriously though," he said, "buying us those pizzas was super awesome. Robin had gotten clipped by a car and got hurt pretty bad. The rest of us weren't doing so hot either, but Raven was able to heal the worst of it. When we finally got Cinderblock secured, people were yelling at us like it was all our fault that Cinderblock had shown up. So yeah, we got back here feeling like total shit."

He held out his steel hand to me.

"My real name is Vic Stone. I only tell that to people I consider to be my friends."

I shook his hand again.

"Hi Vic, it's nice meeting you... again."

Cyborg grinned. "On a differnt note, we got a lot of big projects coming down the pike. You're definitely gonna be busy. Real busy."


	2. Chapter 2

_So I finally got a better idea of where this story is going, and I'm actually quite excited about it. It's proven to be an interesting challenge keeping Raven in character, but I'm also considering that she's older and more mature. It makes for an interesting experience writing her. Also, I got a hold of the Teen Titans Go! comic series that followed the show. It's given me a little more insight into her show persona. Also started re-watching all five seasons of the show to mine it for material on all the Titans._

 _I'm not sure how long this story is going to be, but I don't intend any real teenage angsty fluff. I wanted to explore this as adults in adult relationships, though there is actually plenty of angst in adult relationships too. :-) However this story may center on Mark and Raven, there's gonna be plenty of stuff going on. Hopefully, I won't bore anybody with my heavy technical engineering crap. I think it's important to the story, but who wants to read that shit all the time? I will promise this though: At no point will Mark join the Titans proper. He is who he is. No hidden potential to become a superhero crimefighter. No likely accidents to give him any super powers. He is going to remain the anti-Gary-Stu._

 _These chapters are subject to change when I find inaccuracies or come up with better writing. These are rough drafts. Any reviews or suggestions are gladly welcomed._

 _ **Disclaimer here:** I don't own any of these characters, except for Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

At about six am, I was awakened from my repose by a sharp knock upon my door. I had fallen asleep with my tablet while reading an especially intriguing story on a certain changeling's favorite fanfiction site. My glasses were still on my face. Melvin meowed at me as I sat up from the bed and straightened my glasses. Glancing at the clock, I wondered who would be banging on my door that early. I usually didn't hang out the IT shingle until at least 9am.

With a yawn, I stood up and shuffled to the door when it slid open revealing Cyborg and Robin.

I blinked. "You guys look remarkably chipper this morning. It's 6am. Am I fired or something?"

"Ha, you wish," Cyborg grinned, "or more likely after what we gots ta show ya, you'll be thanking your lucky stars!"

Robin also was smiling. The boy wonder (man wonder now?) stood with his arms crossed and looked at me.

"Get your shoes on and come with us," Robin said, "We've got a lot to cover."

Ten minutes later (hey, I wanted to brush my teeth) we rode the elevator to the bottom floor of the tower. At the first floor, the elevator stopped but didn't open its doors.

I blinked again. "Ok, so what are we doing?"

Robin flipped open a panel next to the doors revealing a key pad and a biometric palm scanner. He typed in a code and took off his glove to place his hand against the sensor. The elevators digital readout suddenly read ACCESS GRANTED and the elevator proceeded to sink down below the first floor.

"Wait," I said, glancing up at Cyborg, "There are more levels below the ground?"

"Just one," Cyborg responded, "And this one is going to be very relevant to your skill-set."

The doors opened. Beyond them, I saw a vast space. Everything was white and clean and loud with the sounds of many system fans in many racks and the underlying hum of an enterprise class HVAC. I staggered in and fell to my knees as I gazed out at the rows of racks loaded with advanced system hardware.

"Welcome to the JLU's west coast data aggregation facility," Robin said behind me, "You think he likes it, Vic?"

"I most certainly believe he does, Rob," Cyborg responded.

My eyes were tearing up. The well organized rows that were separated into hot and cold aisles, the clean and well organized network cabling that cascaded in neat bundles from the overhead caged conduits into each rack, the two world class UPS systems at the back of the room.

"It's beautiful," I whispered.

Robin and Cyborg each took an arm and helped me back to my feet. Then they guided me to a room on the left side that had a glass panel for a window. Inside, there was a large desk with four 24 inch monitors arrayed before a single keyboard and mouse. On the wall opposite the desk there were even larger monitors displaying power usage, bandwidth usage, and a virtual map of every system and their associated status. The loudness of the data center became greately muted when they closed the door.

"So here's the deal," Cyborg said, "This datacenter currently replicates from both the JLU's primary datacenter in Metropolis and the mainframes on the Watchtower. The plan is to build similar facilities at the other three Titan Towers, specifically Titans East, Titans North, and Titans South. What we need you to do is to work with the managers of those DCs and set up a virtual load balance. JLU doesn't want data in any centralized location, so they want all six sites to be load balanced for access from anywhere. Ultimately they want this to be their own cloud service."

"Care and feeding of this site is going to be your primary responsibility," Robin said, "It is a dark site, which is why you needed your security clearance, but it has high visibility from any member group in the JLU."

I gazed at Cyborg and Robin. "I'm so embarassed," I whispered, "All I got you guys was pizza."

Cyborg got me set up in the tower security system and biometric scanner. Then he pulled out the seat and offered it to me. Sliding into that seat felt like sliding into the drivers seat of a brand new Ferrari.

"So what's the backbone speed?" I asked as I sat down.

"100G InfiniBand dedicated," Cyborg said, "The Tower has 40G for its own interconnect, but it's segregated from this place."

I whistled. "That's a fat pipe. What's JLU using all this for computing power for?"

"Statistics, reports, data modeling, crime rate predictions, documentation, criminal profiles," Robin responded, counting each item off on his fingers, "Lots of data-mining too. Law enforcement agencies from around the world have links into this pile, so data is constantly exchanged with them. Basically, a lot of shit. The four Titans teams also use it and update the primary databases with our own data and reports."

"Wow," I whispered.

"Anyway, play nice and have fun," Cyborg said with a grin, "Don't break anything."

He and Robin left me to my own devices after that.

"Oh yeah," I murmured to the many screens, "Let's get acquainted. Show me those boobies, baby! Daddy wants a lapdance!"

The hours that followed I spent deep underground in that glass aquarium that I considered to be the Network Operations Center, or NOC. Emails, live chats with the other DCMs, coding and network design and implementation, I was buried in my work.

I didn't realize I had passed out until I felt someone grab my hair and lift my head from the keyboard where I had been filling line after line on the screen with nothing but the letter 'n.' I blearily opened my eyes and found a stunning pair of amethyst orbs staring into my face.

"Mark, you need to come back upstairs," Raven said.

"G-grah," I responded, "G-got a bit m-more to do here."

Raven sighed and pushed me back into my chair.

"I didn't want to have to resort to this," She crossed her arms, "But we have your cat. Either come upstairs now or Star is going to feed him to Silkie."

I blinked at the dark Titan.

"Wait, who is Silkie?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. "I guess you'd better come up and find out, huh?" She wrinkled her nose. "You probably want to hit the shower too, while you're at it."

 _Awesome_ , I thought, _I finally have a semi-conversation with Raven and I'm stinking with-_ "Wait, how long have I been down here?"

"A day and a half or so."

"Oh shit! Melvin must be starving!" I staggered to my feet. "I gotta get upstairs! Oh double-shit, he needs his medication!"

"Star has been taking care of Melvin," Raven said, "so he's not starving." She cocked her head. "What is he on medication for?"

I stumbled over my feet, almost falling. Damn, I really have been down here too long!

"I have to give him ten milligrams of prednisone every other day for his stomatitis."

We finally got into the elevator.

"What's stomatitis?" Raven asked.

"His gums and the back of his throat get inflamed and he gets really uncomfortable," I said, "He already had a bunch of teeth pulled, but the prednisone is really the only way to control it."

"Oh, I guess that explains why he felt much better after I healed him."

"I'm sure he would..." I turned to stare at her. "Wait, you healed him? You can do that?"

Raven shrugged. "Yes. His mouth was bleeding. Star thought he might have hurt himself. I could tell he was in pain because he was cranky."

"How did you know he was cranky?"

She gave me a funny look. "I'm an empath."

I felt my chest freeze. "So you can tell what people are feeling?"

"That's how it works."

"S-s-so you know how-"

"We're here," Raven said quickly as the doors slid open to the ninth floor, "Starfire has Melvin in her room. I'll see you later."

I watched wide-eyed as she opened a black portal in the hallway and disappeared abruptly.

 _Oh fuck. Oh fuckity fuck. Oh fuckity fuckity fuck fuck fuck!_

I didn't think my face could get any redder by the time I got to Starfire's door.

"Oh friend Mark!" Starfire exclaimed as she opened her door, "The Melvin cat has been resting quite comfortably with Silkie!"

"There's that name again," I muttered, "who is Silkie?"

Starfire gestured towards two lumps on her bed. I could recognize one of the furry lumps as my cat Melvin, but the other looked rather odd. It was a little larger than Melvin, very pale, and had what appeared to be little antennae sticking out of it's head. Starfire floated over and swept the pale lump into her arms. She held it up.

"This is my little Bumgorf, Silkie!" she said proudly.

I stared at the thing. It looked like some kind of caterpillar. It had multiple legs, a furry body, and a large mouth with widely spaced teeth. It's tongue rolled out of it's mouth.

"Oh, my..." I stammered, "it's um, adorable."

"Silkie," Starfire said as she held up the caterpillar, "This is friend Mark! He is the new guy of the IT!"

I swear that thing smiled at me.

"He is very popular on the Instagram," Starfire said proudly, "Would you like to follow me on the Instagram?"

I smiled weakly. "My phone battery is dead right now, but I'll gladly follow you as soon as I'm able to."

"Wonderful!"

I took Melvin back to my room and deposited him on the floor. He gave me a narrow-eyed glare as if to ask me where the hell I'd been for the last few days. Then he went into the bathroom to hit up the litterbox. I plugged in my phone and turned it on. I was immediately inundated with numerous text and voice messages from Robin and Cyborg asking me when I planned to come up for air. The last text message was from Beast Boy.

 **'asked Rae to get u frm where ever the hell u r. U owe me 1. BTW, my laptop in yet -BB'**

I sighed. I was feeling mortified. Raven was an empath. How the fuckity fuck could I have forgotten that? I figured she was completely aware of my schoolboy crush. The sheer magnitude of awkwardness involved here would blot out the sun. I wanted to go dig a hole somewhere and bury myself.

My phone rang and I grabbed it to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey buddy," Cyborg's voice filtered through, "Glad to hear you aren't dead."

"Why did you guys let me stay down there for so long?"

"We figured you were grown up enough to come upstairs on your own. Also, it's kind of important work. For future reference though, you don't have to be down there to work on that stuff."

"Yeah," I sighed, "I know. It's just that when I get really focused on something, time seems to slip away from me."

"Anyway," Cyborg continued, "Get yourself cleaned up and come up to the rec room. We're going out tonight."

I blinked. "Wait, really?"

"Hell yeah, we're a team," Cyborg said, "We do team shit all the time. It's fun!"

"But I'm not a Titan."

"You might not be a card-carrying member of the Teen Titans, but you are part of our team and now part of our family. So get your ass in gear and get up here."

I swore I could hear him grin.

I got into the shower and cleaned up thoroughly. Then I got out and took a pass at my face with my trusty beard-trimmer. When I was satisfied that I no longer resembled Grizzly Adams, I flossed and brushed and then glared at my paunch in the mirror. Man... I tried holding my stomach in to see if it made a difference. Just seemed like the fat squeezed up into my man-tits. I hadn't really properly eaten in like thirty-six hours, aside from whatever snacks Cyborg had stocked in the minifridge down in the NOC. Seemed like it didn't matter to my gut.

 _I gotta ask Robin if he could recommend an exercise regimen that would help burn off this shit,_ I thought.

I sighed, then exited the bathroom to get dressed. 

* * *

There's no shortage of useful vehicles in the Titan's garage. I stood and stared in wonder at the technological marvel that was the T-Car.

"Hey Vic," I said, "There's six of us, but it only looks like room for five in there. Am I riding in the trunk?"

Cyborg was wearing some dark jeans and a stylish sweater that hid most of his cybernetics.

"Nah," he said, "Robin and Star are going on Robin's bike. It's just gonna be you, me, Raven, and BB in the T-Car."

I glanced over to where Robin was climbing aboard his R-cycle. He was also dressed in clothing that seemed more relaxed. This seemed to be the trend for the entire team as Starfire came over to him wearing some jeans and a nice blouse. She giggled at something Robin said as he handed her a helmet and donned his own.

Beast Boy came over wearing a dark t-shirt and some cargo pants.

"We heading out?" Beast Boy asked.

"Just waiting on Rae," Cyborg said.

The Titan in question wandered into the garage in some jeans and sneakers and wearing a dark colored hoodie with the hood up. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets. It wasn't the most stylish outfit in the world, but to me she looked stunning. Though considering my feelings towards her, she could have wandered in wearing a dress made out of burlap and I'd still think she looked hot.

"I call shotgun!" Beast Boy exclaimed. He quickly jumped into the front passenger side of the T-Car. I almost missed the wink he gave me.

Titan's Tower is situated on an island in Jump City bay. The means of accessing it were via boat, air, or the mile long underground tunnel that led from their garage entrance to an entrance ramp on the main highway going into the city. I actually wasn't aware of this tunnel, since I first came to the island by boat taxi. Then again, I guess it made sense now. How else would they get their vehicles off the island?

 _Maybe I should buy a car,_ I pondered. I decided to hit up craigslist and see if I could find something cheap and dependable.

"Dude, I'm the co-pilot," Beast Boy was saying, "That means I have full control of the radio!"

"You touch that tuner one more time, grass-stain," Cyborg replied, "you're gonna ride back in the glove compartment!"

"Come on, Vic! You gotta know the rules!"

"The rules say that I'm the driver, so I am GOD to you puny mortals while you ride within my domain," Cyborg growled back, "And GOD says leave the radio alone!"

I glanced over to Raven. The dark Titan was gazing out the window, seeming to be ignoring the two bickering in the front.

"Hey Raven," I began.

There was no response from my fellow passenger.

"Raven?"

Still no response. I wondered if she was ignoring me when she suddenly turned to look at me. She reached up into her hood and pulled out an earbud.

"Sorry, were you saying something?"

"Oh, I was just... I don't remember what I was going to say," I admitted sheepishly.

She arched an eyebrow at this, then she started to put the earbud back in.

"Um, what are you listening to?" I blurted.

Raven looked at me for a moment. Then she held up the earbud to me. I leaned over trying to ignore how close I was to her face and put the earbud in my own ear. I could hear the melodic sounds of classical piano music playing.

"Oh, that's cool," I said, handing the earbud back, "you like listening to classical?"

"Yup," Raven said, "It helps me clear my mind and stay focused. It's also pleasant to listen to."

She started to put the earbud back in when I interrupted her again.

"So... what piece are you listening to?"

Raven sighed and put the earbud down. She took out her phone and tapped the screen and then pulled out her other earbud.

"It was Moonlight Sonata. Beethoven's piano sonata number 14. Being performed by Rudolf Serkin."

I blinked. "Oh, that's cool," I said again stupidly, "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."

"You aren't bothering me," Raven responded, "I just like to tune out those two meatheads when I'm in the car."

I mentally cast about for something to talk about, then blurted the first thing that popped into my head.

"So, I used to collect the Teen Titans action figures."

The bickering up front suddenly stopped and Cyborg looked at me from the rearview mirror. Beast Boy turned around in his seat to stare at me, and Raven, well, she was already looking at me with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Shut. Up." Beast Boy said, "There are action figures of us?"

"Yeah," I said, "I had all five of you. And the rare collectible blue Raven figure."

"Let me get this straight," Raven said, "You used to collect us as action figures, and there was a rare version of me?"

"Yup. The regular version of you had the blue cloak and hood and the black, uh, leotard," I said, fighting a blush, "but the rare version was one that was screwed up in manufacturing, so your leotard was blue as well."

Raven stared into my face for a moment.

"Sorry," she finally said, "but I have no idea what to say in response to being told there are action figures of me, or that you actually owned them."

"Tell me you still have them," Beast Boy said pleadingly.

"I still have them, and the full set of Titans bobble-heads."

"There's a bobble-headed version of me as well?" Raven murmured, "Well that's just ducky."

"Guess you weren't kidding when you said you were a fan, huh?" Cyborg chuckled, "Also, I gotta see my bobble-head."

"Do I need to point out that someone was merchandising the Teen Titans and we weren't aware of it?" Raven countered, "I don't recall getting any sort of licensing fee for my likeness."

"Good point," Cyborg said, "We should check our contracts when we get back."

"You guys signed contracts?" I asked.

"Yeah," Cyborg responded, "Teen Titans run under the umbrella of the JLU. When we officially became a team, we had to sign on with JLU in order to operate under their government charter. I'm guessing they probably own the rights to our images."

"What about the other Titan teams?" Beast Boy asked, "Do you have their action figures?"

I scratched my head sheepishly. "Well, I was already in my third year of college when you guys all brought down the Brotherhood of Evil, so I never got around to buying their action figures. Also, my roommate in college would have thought I was crazy."

"Action figures," Raven muttered, "how could that possibly be crazy?"

* * *

We had pizza at a gourmet place called Alice's. Watching the Titans interact with each other over dinner made me realize how deep the bonds ran between these people. Cyborg was right. They really were like family. Cyborg and Beast Boy kept exchanging verbal jabs that left the others laughing, especially Starfire. Her laugh was rich and deep and her dazzling green eyes would reflect her mirth. Robin, who still wore his domino mask, would whisper things into Starfire's ear that would also make her giggle, before he would turn to the rest of the table to address some point or reference some story of their past escapades. Raven sat quietly, mostly listening to the others and sipping some herbal tea. Whenever one of Beast Boy's jokes landed in her direction, she would skillfully cut them down with a dry sarcastic remark that really showed the depth of her wit. But for the most part, she seemed content to be quiet. However, I could see a faint smile on her lips.

"So, I want to propose a toast," Robin suddenly said. He lifted up his soda. "To our new IT guy." He grinned at me. "Welcome to the family, Mark!"

The other Titans also raised their glasses. "Welcome to the family!"

"You guys really know how to make a fellow feel welcome," I said, also raising my glass, "A month ago, I was just some nameless toolbag at Wayne Tech, and today I'm now the systems engineer for the Teen Titans!"

"Still a toolbag though, brah!" Beast Boy laughed.

"What was that, Beast Boy? You don't want your new laptop? You want me to send it back?"

"Ok ok!" Beast Boy said wide eyed, "I take it back, you're not a toolbag!"

"I am very glad you are now a part of our family," Starfire said, "I believe a group selfie is appropriate for this occasion! Everyone, gather together so that I might have all of our faces in the frame!"

We squeezed together as Starfire held up her phone. "Everyone, speak the cheese!"

I looked at the resultant picture. I actually didn't look too bad, in my own opinion. Maybe a little out of place. A pudgy schlub doing a peace sign while surrounded by extraordinary people. I needed a printout of this pic for my desk.

After dinner came the club on the waterfront. It was actually a refurbished warehouse. I'm not big on the club scene, but most of the Teen Titans were big fans of shaking it on the dancefloor. Despite Starfire's attempts to coax me out onto the dancefloor, I politely declined and sat down at one of the tables near the back of the club. With a beer. I didn't get to have beer often, but I was taking advantage of the bar in the club. They had an excellent IPA on draft. Perfectly cold and perfectly delicious.

"I'm not big on dancing either," Raven said dryly as she sat down at the table as well.

"My ex-girlfriend liked going to the more goth clubs," I said musingly, "There were a few near Gotham U. I never really could get into it. The few times I went with her the overall atomosphere was always really dark and dreary."

"I used to date a guy that was a consumate goth a few years ago," Raven responded. Her eyes followed the other Titans as they hammed it up on the dancefloor. "We liked a lot of the same things."

I think the beer was relaxing me a bit, making it feel easier to just talk to Raven without any of the usual anxiety.

"You actually don't seem very goth to me," I said, "what kinds of things did you have in common with that guy?"

"Philosophy, the pointlessness of the mundane things in life, poetry..." Raven looked at me with just the slightest hint of amusement in her amethyst eyes. "You know, goth stuff."

I finished off my beer.

"Well just crank up some Sisters of Mercy and let me get my black eyeshadow," I grinned at her, "and we'll totally cry together about our quiet suffering."

Raven glanced down at the empty beer glass. "How many beers have you had?"

I looked down and realized there were at least three empty 22 ounce glasses in front of me. No wonder I felt buzzed.

"Shit, I didn't realize I had that many," I replied, "I'd better get some water." I smiled back up at her. "No wonder it's been easier to talk to you."

Raven frowned a little at that. "So you're saying you need to be drunk to talk to me?"

"No, no, no," I stated, waving my hand. My arms felt a little weird, an obvious symptom of drinking a little too much. "I mean I normally get all anxious and tongue-tied when I try to speak to you. Oh, it's not because I don't like you, or you're just difficult to talk to, but because I like you a lot and my inhibitions are lowered a bit right now."

"I see." Raven's expression seemed unreadable.

"Yup," I said, "This is why I usually don't drink to excess, because I always get worried that I'm making an asshole out of myself and that I'll be judged for it the next day. That and when I try to walk, it feels like I'm using someone elses legs."

We watched the other Titans dancing for a moment. Beast Boy had morphed into a chimp, then a gorilla, and a llama, then back to a gorilla at which point he started literally swinging from the rafters. I looked at Raven again.

"Raven," I began, "I hope you don't think this is too forward of me, or that this is the beer talking, but I wanted to ask you something."

She focused her eyes on my face again.

"What's that?"

"Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. She studied my face for a few moments.

"Well, you certainly aren't the first drunk person to ever ask me out," she said wryly, "but you certainly are the most direct and polite. Sure, let's do dinner."

I felt a grin split my face. "Awesome! How about Friday night?"

"Ok."

 _WIN_. I thought.

I think I grinned the entire ride back to the Tower. Apparently it was just the four of us going back as Robin and Star had plans to do something else. We were halfway back when I felt my stomach move in uncomfortable ways.

"Say, Cyborg," I said nonchalantly, "Could you pull over?"

"Why, what's up?" The cybernetic Teen Titan asked me. He looked up at me in the rearview mirror, "Oh shit."

Cyborg pulled over and I calmly got out. Then I bent over and with my hands on my knees I proceeded to empty my stomach into the gutter.

"Ewww, gross dude!" Beast Boy cried.

Cyborg looked at me again as I climbed back into the T-Car.

"Drinking a bit tonight?" he said with a hint of amusement.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," I slurred back at him. Raven rolled her eyes. She reached over and placed a cool hand on my forehead. Boy, it felt nice considering the headache that was brewing.

"Lie down."

I decided against arguing and laid my head on her lap. Raven glared up at Beast Boy and Cyborg who both had stunned expressions on their faces. Beast Boy's mouth actually hung open.

"Tell no one about this," Raven ordered.

She placed her cool hand back on my forehead and I noticed a muted white light. Then my headache suddenly vanished and my head cleared.

"You can sit up now."

I carefully sat up and blinked. All traces of a hangover were gone. Raven arched her eyebrow at me.

"Next time I'm going to let you suffer," she said simply. 

* * *

Raven assumed the lotus position in her meditation circle. She cleared her mind and controlled her breathing. Found her center.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she chanted quietly.

As she entered her meditative state, she began to analyze her recent memories and experiences to better sort and organize them into her mind.

That Mark was attracted to Raven wasn't new information. She had already surmised that from his emotional state. What she wanted to do was to analyze her own feelins on the matter. To get a deeper understanding. She decided to break it down to a mental list of likes and dislikes.

He wasn't the skinniest guy in the world, but it gave the appearance of an almost cuddly teddy bear. DISLIKE.  
He had a really kind face and a compassionate demeanor. LIKE.  
He actually had a good sense of humor. LIKE.  
He didn't seem the type to hide things. The man pretty much wore his heart on his sleeve. UNSURE.  
He was fundamentally different from any other man Raven had ever known. Not a superhero, not a martial arts expert, just a regular person. INTRIGUED.  
He had a beard. Actually, she kind of liked his beard. LIKE.  
He had to have Cyborg pull over so he could puke from drinking. EXTREME DISLIKE, but he didn't barf in the car, so that's one in the plus column.  
He collected action figures. DISLIKE.

Raven pondered her mental list for a moment. She really didn't know a lot about Mark, aside from the conversation they had at the club. She decided he warranted more study before drawing a final conclusion.

* * *

It was Monday. T-minus 5 days before my date with Raven. I realized that buying a car was now a high priority item for me, since driving was a fairly important element of most dates and I didn't want to depend on Uber or Lyft, though I had those apps on my phone.

I opened a browser on one of my screens and plugged in craigslist while I popped open my banking app to see what money I had to work with. I froze when I saw my account.

I blinked. Holy shit.

I quickly opened another browser window and logged into Wayne Techs employee services page and pulled up my employee info. Then I sat in a stunned silence while I stared at my salary. I had definitely gotten a bump. A holy fuck-all the-universe-loves-me salary bump. I was now making seven and a half times more than I had as a regular fulltime employee back in Gotham. I wondered if I had somehow earned some outrageously good karma in a previous life. Everything about my life was just awesome. I had a great job that paid me obscenely well, I worked with people whom I had idolized, and I have a date with a woman whom I had been attracted to for a long time.

I nervously looked around. Was there a shoe somewhere just waiting to drop?

I shook myself and went back to craigslist.

By Wednesday, I had purchased a semi-decent used 2010 Ford Fiesta from a seller in Jump City. Prior to purchase, the seller had agreed to go with me to a local mechanic to have the car inspected for preexisting issues. When the mechanic gave the thumbs up, I paid the seller three grand and got the car registered. Then I got the insurance worked out and discovered that that was where the real pain was.

Living in a city like Jump meant that insurance rates were considerably higher. This was always the case for any location that had superheroes operating there. Supervillians were prone to causing lots of collateral damage to cars and buildings, so naturally car insurance and home insurance were stupid high. My annual premium for the car was almost equal to what I had paid for it, and that was just for liability, damage, and theft. Even then my deductible was almost a grand. At any rate, once all the paperwork had been signed, the registration fees and taxes paid to the city, I drove my shiny used Fiesta through the bay tunnel and parked my wheels in the Titan's garage.

Cyborg looked at my car. I could see him stifling a chuckle.

"So these the new wheels, huh?" he asked.

"Yup," I responded, "I got a pretty good deal with a private seller."

"Mhmm," Cyborg said. He pulled out a metal wand and plugged it into his arm. Then he tapped the display in his arm a couple of times and proceeded to run the wand over and around my car.

I blinked.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't mind me," Cyborg responded, "I'm just scanning for bugs or tracking devices."

The Titan alert suddenly blasted through the Tower. A few moments later, the rest of the Teen Titans rushed into the garage.

Robin strode over to his R-cycle. "Plasmus is on the move again. Somehow he got out of containment." He jumped on his bike and put his helmet on. Then he glanced over at my car.

"That the new wheels?" Robin asked. I nodded. "Looks gas efficient and smart." He started up the bike.

"Hey Robin," I called out to him, "Give me a call if you guys want me to order some dinner or something."

Robin nodded. "Will do. TITANS GO!"

The R-cycle revved as Robin hit the accelerator and sped out of the garage and into the open tunnel. Cyborg jumped into the T-Car immediately followed suit.

"I do not look forward to this at all," Starfire said with a frown as she launched out of the open garage into the sky.

"This is gonna be so gross again, isn't it?" Beast Boy griped. He morphed into a hawk and followed Starfire.

Raven was quiet. She noticed me and gave me a nod before she flew out of the garage herself.

Three hours later, I was once again on my laptop in the main rec room when the elevator opened disgorging the five Teen Titans. This time they didn't look so beaten down and their eyes were immediately drawn to the pile of pizzas sitting hot and ready on the dining table. They were, however, very much covered with a purplish slime that stunk horrifically. I started to open my mouth when Beast Boy beat me to the punch.

"Don't say it," he grumbled, "we look like we we were at a demonic bukakke party. No offense Rae."

"None taken," Raven muttered, "We stink like it too."

"I was just going to ask you dears how work was today," I said, fighting down a grin.

"Well, we won," Robin said, "with minimal collateral damage. The city is always happy with that." He looked over at Cyborg. "But an attack from Plasmus just a few days after Cinderblock?"

"Something definitely stinks," Cyborg replied with a grimace as some of the purple goo dripped off his arm and onto the floor, "and not just us."

"This is going to be unpleasant to remove from my hair," Starfire said as she tried combing the stuff out with her fingers. She looked at Beast Boy. "Also, what is the 'bukakke?'"

"It's a type of pornography," Raven said. She lowered her hood. "Don't bother trying to find out more. You'll just be even more grossed out than you are now."

Raven's cloak had taken most of the purple goo, but it looked like she took a big hit. She unclasped her brooch and dropped the slime covered cloak on the floor. I was immediately struck with wonder at her bare legs. They were pale grey like the rest of her skin and they were long. Her body was like a tight hour-glass with lean muscle on all her limbs.

 _Oh wow..._ I thought. Then I looked up at her face and found her watching me. I felt my face turn beet red and I looked away.

"W-well," I cleared my throat, hoping none of the other Titans had noticed me gawking at Raven, "The pizzas are fresh and still hot if you guys want to clean up." I glanced at the puddle of purple slime on the floor. "Is that shit easy to clean up?"

"We got a steam cleaner and carpet shampoo," Cyborg said as he wiped off his feet and legs with a towel, "You wouldn't believe some of the shit we've had to clean out of this rug."

"But we have become quite good at the cleaning with steam," Starfire said with a smile. She floated to the kitchen where she retrieved a few more towels.

"Oh man," Beast Boy practically whined as he stared at the boxed pizzas, "I'm so hungry..."

"Showers first," Robin said. He wiped more of the excess goo off his face and body with a towel, "We all stink."

"Some worse than usual," Raven smirked, looking at Beast Boy, "I'll be back for pizza." With that Raven opened a dark portal and disappeared, leaving her slime filled cloak on the floor. Robin's cape soon joined it.

Twenty minutes later, the Teen Titans reassembled in the rec room. I was standing near the slime puddle, staring at it apprehensively.

"I feel like we should be throwing down lime or something," I muttered to Cyborg.

"Yeah, Plasmus is some nasty stanky shit," Cyborg responded. He threw down a big cloth tarp over the mess. "Let's just eat. We're gonna clean this up later."


	3. Chapter 3

_Surprisingly, this story has had a lot of good support. I guess I touched on something slanted towards the unique by putting in an OC into a Teen Titans fanfic that was really just a regular chubby schlub. I said before that this wasn't a self-insert at all, but there are more than a few elements of myself mixed into Mark's personality. I've even noticed him using some of my own expressions. He's almost like my bastard child._

I _completely appreciate the reviews I've gotten so far. It feels good knowing that there are people who like my work enough to give me a little con-crit advice or even just drop me some review love. Writing exclusively from Mark's POV presents some challenges as there are large plot activities happening behind the scenes that he simply wouldn't be aware of. I do think it's important to shift to Raven at times, but not often._

 _I also have been trying to add some more dimension to the other Titans. So far I feel like I've been successful with Raven and the boys, but I do intend on working a bit more with Starfire. She has a bit of a peculiar demeanor and her dialogue feels a bit challenging, but I want her to have some depth in this story. It's too easy to make other characters in a fanfic seem like cardboard cutouts of themselves._

 _I've also been mixing in some elements from the 'Teen Titan's Go!' comic book. If you haven't read any of those issues, I highly recommend it. I actually reference at least one or two incidents in this chapter that happened in the comic book._

 _This chapter ended up becoming a bit lengthy, but I enjoyed writing it. Hopefully, everyone will continue to enjoy reading it. When this story is finally complete, I'll probably go back over it and do some re-writes and fixes. Clean things up more and correct any spelling and grammar errors I missed. Until then, please enjoy what I will continue to insist is a rough draft. ;-)_

 _ **Disclaimer here:** I don't own any of these characters. Except for Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

 _We had traveled this long and dusty road for the better part of a fortnight. Our mounts were weary and plodding forward towards our destiny. My companions, Hrothgar the dwarven druid, Gwen the halfling cleric, and Kart the elven archer. Suddenly ahead of us on the road a hill giant loomed._

 _"We need to attack it," Hrothgar cried, "Lest it turn upon us and smite us with it's club!"_

 _Summoning the power of Agoth, I cast a mighty fireball at the hill giant's back and inflicted considerable damage. My comrades followed suit with ranged attacks of their own. The hill giant finally turned to face us._

 _"Why are you attacking me?" the giant bellowed.  
_

* * *

"Remind me again, why are we attacking this thing?" I asked, looking up from my character sheet.

"Hill giants are evil," Robin said, "so naturally we'd want to kill it."

"Dude, we're unloading our cookies on this hill giant just because hill giants are evil?" I gestured to the map on the big screen. "He didn't even do anything yet!"

"He COULD have attacked us..." Robin said sheepishly.

"So we decided to kill him? Dude was walking away from us!"

"But all hill giants are evil," Beast Boy said.

"That's like saying that all Jewish people are cheap and all black people are criminals!" I countered.

Beast Boy stared at me in wonder. "Dude, you are such a liberal!"

Cyborg cleared his throat from behind the game master's screen.

"While your party argued with each other," Cyborg said, "The hill giant called you a bunch of nasty names and walked off." He tapped his metal arm and the map cleared.

It was Thursday night. T-minus one day before Raven and I were going out for dinner. It had been a long time since I had last played Caverns & Monsters. It was a table-top rpg that I discovered to my delight that the boys of the Teen Titans were regular players and Cyborg an experienced Game Master.

Robin looked over at Cyborg.

"How far are we from the temple?"

"It's still a day's journey away and the sun has started to set."

"Ok," Robin said, looking up at the map, "Then we should find a place to camp and rest up." He glanced up at me. "That way you can recharge your spells and Beast Boy can level up Kart." He looked back at Cyborg. "Vic, I'm gonna have Gwen and Hrothgar work on creating some potions of healing."

Of the four of us, Cyborg and Robin each had a beer on the table that they had been sipping. After my fiasco on Sunday night, there was no way I planned on having ANY beer for a long while. So I nursed an icewater. Beast Boy was working on his fifth soda, so he was riding the sugar rush.

"We ended up losing all those experience points because Mark didn't want to hurt some hill giant's feelings," Beast Boy grumbled.

I glared back at Beast Boy. "You're still going up a level. And for the record, I'm not a liberal. I'm a moderate."

Beast Boy lifted his leg and let out a loud fart.

"That's all I got to say about moderates," Beast Boy said. He sniffed the air and cackled. "Oh dudes! Smell that bean burrito!"

"Dude!" Cyborg moaned. A little fan suddenly popped up on his shoulder and began blowing the foul air away from him.

"Oh come on, Vic," Robin growled, waving his character sheets in a desperate attempt to fend off the foul air. "You're blowing it back at the rest of us!"

I frowned at the changeling as I picked up my water. "You shit yourself, didn't you?"

"Not yet," Beast Boy replied with a wink.

"So where are you taking Raven tomorrow night, Mark?" Cyborg casually asked.

"I figured we'd do dinner, then head over to this nice cafe that's doing an open mic and... Wait, how do you know about that?"

Cyborg leaned over to me and tapped his cybernetic eye. It flashed with a red light.

"It's the eye," he said, "It sees all, knows all, and misses nothing." He leaned back again. "Also, Raven added it to her calendar a couple of days ago for Friday night: Dinner with Mark."

I blinked as Beast Boy stared at me with a wide grin.

"You dog! After Sunday night you finally made your move, huh?"

I held up a hand. "First of all, you looked at her private calendar? Isn't that kind of invading her privacy?"

Cyborg arched his single eyebrow at me.

"We all got shared calendars so we know when people aren't available. I'm also an admin, so I automatically see what people put in the calendars when they block off the time."

"Just make sure you don't puke your beer all over her," Beast Boy crowed.

I rubbed my face. "I am never going to live that down, am I?"

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other, then looked at me and laughed.

"Not a chance!" Cyborg chuckled.

Robin shuffled his two character sheets and then looked me in the eye.

"Mark," he said, "It's cool that you got Raven to go out with you, but you need to be aware of one very important thing."

"What's that?"

"If you hurt her or upset her in any way, you're going to be in for some serious pain."

All three of the male Titans were staring hard at me.

I gulped. "I get it, you guys are family, so the threats make sense..."

"No no," Robin said, waving his hand, "I'm not talking about any of us. We wouldn't do anything. I'm saying Raven would probably turn you inside out."

Beast Boy nodded at that. "Raven is actually very very scary," he whispered to me, "This one time, Cy and me went into her room..."

Cyborg visibly shuddered. "I still have nightmares about that."

Robin laid his character sheets on the table.

"Actually, on a completely unrelated note, I was wondering if you could take a quick look at something."

I blinked at the subject shift. "Um, sure, yeah. What do you need?"

Robin pulled out his tablet and scrolled through some items before he handed it to me. I looked at the document.

"This looks like a list of some military spec network equipment," I said. I scrolled through the list and whistled. "This is seriously heavy duty stuff."

"Do you have any idea what someone could do with that equipment?" Robin asked.

"Well..." I pointed at one of the items on the list. "This thing here can be used to act as a network relay. You'd slap this on a cell tower and it clones wireless signal. This other thing here would be spliced into a fiber cable to relay light signals over dedicated WAN links." I continued to scroll through the list. "This is all serious hardware. You could crack into a country's infrastructure with this stuff."

I looked up at Robin.

"Where did you get this?"

Robin crossed his arms. "That's a list of things that have been stolen over the last week. Specifically on the nights we had to go deal with Cinderblock and Plasmus."

"So those two rejects were basically distractions," Cyborg said, "To keep us from noticing this other stuff being stolen."

"That's my current theory," Robin agreed, "But what I can't figure out is what they want to hack."

"Maybe they want to hack us good guys," Beast Boy said absently while working on his character sheet.

The three of us stared at the changeling for a moment.

"You could be onto something, BB," Robin finally said with a thoughtful look on his face.

Beast Boy looked up and blinked. "Really? You mean like, I could actually be right about something?"

Robin looked back at me.

"If Beast Boy is right," he said, "you need to be hyper-vigilant when you go out of the Tower. Keep an eye out for anyone who may seem to be following you or watching you."

"You think I should be worried?" I asked.

Robin shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

"Well, I've finished leveling up Kart," Beast Boy said, "We playin'?"

"Before we continue playing," I replied, motioning my hand towards them, "I just wanted to say that I feel like I know you guys well enough now to reveal some of my own dark secrets. Come closer. I don't want this to get out."

The three Titans leaned over the table towards me. "What is it, Mark?" Robin asked.

I lifted my leg and ripped out a loud fart.

"DUDE!" Beast Boy laughed, falling back into his seat. He looked me in the eye with a fanged grin. "You shit yourself, didn't you?"

"Not yet," I winked back.

* * *

Friday morning found me opening boxes in my room. There was a knock at my door.

"Hey dude," Beast Boy said when I opened the door, "You told me to come and see you. My laptop in?"

"Yeah," I replied, "Just give me a minute."

Beast Boy looked at all the boxes as I turned to finish unpacking them.

"This the rest of your stuff?"

"Yup, I finally got around to having them shipped from my storage unit back home."

The green changeling's eyes widened when he saw my acoustic guitar on a stand in the corner.

"Dude! Do you play?"

I shrugged. "I used to play a lot back in high school. Haven't had much time to get back into it. I'm hoping I can start up again."

Beast Boy reached over and picked up the guitar. "Do you mind?"

"Go ahead, knock yourself out."

I continued to empty the box I had open, when I heard the most amazing sound behind me. I turned and saw Beast Boy picking a complex and melodic riff on my guitar. His eyes were closed as he ran through some scales and finger-picked some familiar tunes. I blinked in awe.

"Holy shit, dude," I murmumred when he finished, "you're good!"

Beast Boy gave me a toothy grin and strummed some chords.

"When you're not training or fighting bad guys," he said, "you tend to find yourself with time to kill. My foster mom taught me how to play before I came here, so I practice a lot."

"Well, I'm not gonna embarass myself by trying to top you," I said, taking the guitar back, "I've got your laptop in my office. Let's go get you squared away."

I put the guitar back on the stand and we went next door to my office. I took Beast Boy's new laptop out of a drawer and put it on my desk.

"Whoa," Beast Boy murmured, looking at the sweet lines of his new machine, "It's so thin!"

"Yup," I said proudly, "It's the latest ultrabook design. It's got Microware Panels 10 on it. I had it loaded with sixteen gigs of ram, latest Inpro i7 cpu, three terabyte SSD, and a 2K screen resolution. The games you can play on this will blow your mind and the porn will look so realistic, it will be like the girls are reaching out of the screen to play with your junk."

"Wow," he whispered in awe.

I opened up the laptop.

"Now pay attention," I said as it booted up, "I'm gonna show you these browser plugins I installed."

The laptop came up with a passphrase prompt.

"This is one of the more important features," I lectured, "The drive is encrypted. You need to unlock it with a passphrase." I typed in the passphrase I had selected. "Currently your passphrase is 'In the forests of the night' with a capital 'I' at the beginning, but you can change that to whatever you want later."

Beast Boy blinked at that. "In the forests of the night? What's that from?"

"William Blake poem," I replied, "It's called 'The Tyger.' You should read some poetry on occasion. Also I thought it was fitting since you can like, turn into tigers and stuff."

Beast Boy grinned. "I kind of like it!'

"It's up to you." I opened up the browser. "Now this is called 'No-Script.' It will prevent any webpage from running any scripts without asking you. This one is called 'Ad-Block' and it will keep any errant pop-ups or ads from showing up."

I showed him the firewalling software I had also installed.

"This will prevent any programs from connecting out to anything you aren't aware of," I continued, "And this thing right here will keep your machine virus free." I clicked open another icon. "This is the VPN app for connecting to the Titan Tower network when you aren't in the tower."

After showing him a few more things, I shutdown the laptop and packed it into a leather laptop bag with its power supply. I then ceremoniously handed it to the changeling.

"Now, my son," I said, "Take this device and go in peace. Do not do unto others what you would do unto yourself, at night, with headphones on. Also, bring me your old machine so that I may properly dispose of it."

"Sure thing dude," Beast Boy said with a grin. He suddenly transformed into a green tiger, dominating my office. He hooked the bag handle with one large tooth, gave me a wink, and bounded out of my office door.

"ROCKIN' IN THE FORESTS OF THE NIGHT!" I heard him bellow from down the hall.

I shook my head.

"I am never gonna get used to that," I muttered, staring at my open door. Then I grinned. "THAT WAS AWESOME!"

* * *

Friday night found me standing next to my red Fiesta inside the Titan's garage and waiting for Raven. I had trimmed up my face fur again and actually bought a new pair of dress slacks and a nice dark blue dress shirt that hopefully downplayed my paunch.

At 6:30 pm, a black portal suddenly opened next to me and Raven stepped out of it. She wore a dark violet cocktail styled dress that ended just a few inches above her knees with a sensible pair of matching flat shoes. Her hair was her usual style, but there was a hint of some eyeshadow and she wore some lip gloss. She also wore a short black sweater vest that came halfway down. She clutched a matching purse in her hand.

I stood there for a moment, stunned at her beauty, before she cleared her throat.

"Are we going?" Raven asked dryly.

"Oh yeah!" I started. I quickly opened the passenger side door for her and she climbed into my car.

"So where are we headed?" Raven asked as I got in the drivers side and started the car. I headed towards the tunnel to the city.

"There's a place downtown called Emma's," I replied, "They do a mixture of Italian and American cuisine. Then I figured if things are going well, we could head over to a cafe called the Overhang for open mic night."

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. "I've been to the Overhang. It's nice."

We pulled up to Emma's twenty minutes later. The valet opened our doors for us and gave me a ticket. I gulped a bit, wondering what dinner at Emma's was going to cost me. Then I glanced at the vision of beauty that was Raven and decided it didn't matter.

"Reservation for two under Goldman," I said to the maitre d'. The man smiled brightly at us.

"Of course," he said, "right this way."

He led us to a table in the back of the restaurant and handed us our menus. For a Friday night, the place was especially busy. I secretly congratulated myself on making reservations on Wednesday.

The waiter approached our table. "Hi, my name is Chad and I'll be taking care of you tonight. Can I start you off with some drinks?"

I had already decided against drinking any alcoholic beverage that night, especially after Raven had witnessed me barfing my brains out on Sunday.

"Um, I'll just have a water."

Raven glanced up at Chad. "What kinds of tea do you have?"

"I can bring you over a selection," the waiter replied.

"Ok, tea then for me."

"I'll be right back with your drinks."

Chad walked off and the two of us went back to looking at the menu. He returned a few minutes later with a water for me and a teacup and saucer with a little pot of hot water. He set the drinks down and took out a box that contained a selection of different teas. I watched as Raven selected an Earl Grey.

"Have you guys decided or do you need a few more minutes?" Chad asked.

"I'm going to go with the chicken marsala with a small caesar to start," I said, closing the menu.

Raven sat looking at her menu for a moment longer, and I sat looking at her face. Her nose was slightly wrinkled in thought and there was a slight wrinkle on her forehead just below the red jewel. She glanced up at me like she knew I had been staring.

"The sirloin I think," she said, "with a house salad."

"How would you like that cooked?"

"Rare please."

Chad collected our menus. "I'll get those orders right in. I'll be back in a few with your salads."

We sat looking at each other after Chad had walked away.

"So this is where we start talking with each other," Raven finally said, "right?"

I blinked. "Yeah, that's right!" I took my glasses off and rubbed my nose. Then I smiled at her. "I'm sorry, Raven. It's actually been a little while since the last time I've been on a date."

Raven gave me a small smile back.

"It's probably been even longer for me," she said.

"I thought you said you used to date that goth dude."

"Yeah," Raven replied, "We dated for a few months. Then there was an... incident. I managed to embarrass him, so he broke it off."

"Hmm, I can't imagine you doing anything that would embarrass a goth dude." I cocked my head. "You tell him that you liked rainbows or something?"

Raven hesitated. "It's... hard to explain." She looked back at me. "How about you? Why did your goth girlfriend dump you?"

I winced. "She didn't dump me per se..."

"So you broke it off with her?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Ok, I'll lay out my cards here. Yeah, she dumped me."

Our salads arrived and we began to eat.

"So..." Raven said, "What happened?"

I blinked. "Oh, with my ex?"

"Yes."

"There were some... compatibility issues," I said.

"Such as?"

"Well, she was from Japan originally, and she found out that I liked anime and stuff..." I scratched the back of my head absently. "She actually hates that stuff. Also, she didn't like that my..."

I stopped with my eyes widened.

"Um... it was just compatibility issues," I finished.

Raven arched her eyebrow at that.

"I see."

"Never mind about her," I said quickly, "I'd like to learn more about you. Where are you from?"

Raven looked at me thoughtfully as she chewed some salad. She swallowed.

"That's a bit of a complex answer," she responded.

"If you don't want to talk about it..."

"No, it's alright," Raven said. She took a deep breath. "I came from an inter-dimensional realm called Azarath."

I blinked. "Really? That's cool! So your folks live there?"

Raven blinked. "You seem to be taking the whole inter-dimensional thing pretty well."

"I work for superheroes," I replied, "also, have you seen the world we live in? Superman? Wonder-Woman?"

Raven nodded. "Point taken. Anyway, my mother still lives in Azarath. My father..." She trailed off for a moment. "Let's just say he wasn't the loving father type."

"Oh," I said, "So you don't get along well with your old man, huh?"

"Definitely not."

"I can kind of understand," I said, "My dad wasn't there at all when I was growing up. Were your parents divorced or something?"

"My parents weren't married, at least not in a conventional sense."

"I guess that can be a good thing, especially if your dad was an asshole. So he doesn't live in Azarath?"

Raven put her fork down. "I should probably just tell you this. My father was an inter-dimensional demon named Trigon. He was brutal and evil and almost conquered this world."

I blinked. "I guess he was a world-class asshole."

Raven picked her fork up again. "That's putting it mildly."

"So you're half-demon?"

"Yes, does that bother you?"

I shook my head. "Please see the previous statement about the world we live in. Also, I'm half Ukrainian."

Raven looked at me for a moment. "What does that have to do with this?"

"Have you seen the Ukraine? Those people are crazy!"

Raven gave me a small smile. I was beginning to understand her facial expressions and I had determined that those small smiles was the Raven way of laughing out loud.

"Anyway," I said, "I guess it doesn't really compare to having a demonic entity as your father."

I was quiet for a few moments.

"It must be hell on Father's day. Boo-yah!"

Raven stopped eating again and stared at me with a frown.

"Never say the word 'boo-yah' to me again."

I looked down at the table.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. Then I heard a light chuckle and looked up to see her with her small smile again.

"It was a little bit funny though," She arched an eyebrow, "Just a LITTLE bit."

Our main meals arrived and we dug in.

"So," Raven said as she cut into her steak, "What's your story? Aside from the goth girl that dumped you."

"Well, my mother was a nice Jewish girl from Boston and my father was a former criminal."

Raven arched her eyebrow again.

"A criminal? From the Ukraine?"

I nodded. "Yup. I guess he worked for some gang in Gotham. Batman took them down apparently. My father got his nose broken by Batman himself. My mom said he was actually proud of that." I shrugged. "My dad was really weird. Anyway, he moved to Boston after he got out of prison and he met and married my mom. They had my sister and then had me ten years later."

Raven swallowed some steak. "That's quite an age gap."

"You got that right," I sighed, "My sister is now married with two kids. She treats me like kid number three. My dad sort of disappeared after I was born, so I'm not surprised my sister treats me like that."

"So you pretty much grew up without a father."

"It didn't sound like your dad showed up for family meals or holidays either. So I guess that makes two of us." I gave her a wink and a smile.

Raven cut into her steak some more as I chewed on my chicken marsala.

"So why were you so into the Teen Titans?" Raven asked after a moment.

I blinked at that for a moment. "Well, I was pretty introverted in high school. I didn't really have many friends, but I liked following the JLU and their superheroes. Boston doesn't really have many hometown heroes, so it was like all the superhero action was worlds away. Then I heard a new team of young heroes had formed over on the west coast. I knew about Robin because he worked with Batman, but the rest of you guys were all new. There was just something appealing about you."

"So the action figures?"

"Heh," I chuckled sheepishly, "Well yeah, I did collect your action figures. I'm not ashamed to admit it."

Raven nodded at that, then put her utensils down on her empty plate.

"That steak was actually really good," she said.

I looked down at the chicken marsala. "This was pretty good too, but way too much. I think I'm gonna take the rest of it home."

Chad appeared at our table. I asked him to wrap up my marsala.

"Can I interest you folks in some dessert? Some tea or coffee?" Chad asked as he lifted my plate.

I glanced at Raven. She nodded.

"Sure, what's on the menu?"

"Well," the waiter began, "We have a fine New York cheesecake with a graham cracker crust and a strawberry sauce, an amazing chocolate fudge cake with a mocha frosting, and we have a fantastic carrot cake."

Raven looked at me. "Do you want to split a cheesecake slice?" she asked.

I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing than splitting a dish of cheesecake with Raven. I played it cool.

"Cheesecake? Hell yeah!"

The waiter grinned. Then he cleared the rest of our plates. "I'll bring that right on over."

A few minutes later, Chad returned with a slice of cheesecake, two spoons, my wrapped marsala, and the check, of course.

"I can take that whenever you're ready," he said. Then he walked away.

I could tell that Raven was especially enjoying the cheesecake as she had her small smile on continuously as we ate. And it was delicious. The cheesecake, not her smile. However I liked them both a real lot.

When we finished, Raven sat back and put her hands on her stomach.

"Ugh, I'm really full," she muttered.

"Yeah," I said as I looked at the bill, "I'm spackled lips to asshole." I froze and looked up at her. She was staring at me, then she chuckled and smiled her smile.

"Heh, I meant that I'm full too," I said sheepishly.

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they were 'spackled lips to asshole' to describe being full," Raven said, still smiling.

"I'm sorry," I replied, still feeling sheepish, "something about you just makes my guard go down. I'm usually much more refined that that."

"It might have been unrefined," Raven smiled, "but still funny." She looked at the bill in my hand and started to take out her purse.

"I got it," I said, waving her purse away, "my mother raised me to be chivalrous, so I always pay for dates."

Raven arched an eyebrow at that.

"You know, that could be construed as a little chauvinistic."

I blinked. "So women would rather not get free meals on dates?"

"I didn't say I that I construed it that way."

* * *

I paid the valet and tipped him, then we headed over to the Overhang. It was around 8:30 pm when we got there. We sat in a booth at the back so we could talk more.

"I was curious about one thing," I said as we settled in.

"What's that?" Raven asked.

"Well, I would think that more people would recognize you. You are a Teen Titan. Kind of a celebrity."

Raven shrugged. "I'm definitely not complaining," she said, "I like my privacy. Also, I'm usually in uniform when in public and I keep my hood up."

A waitress came over and placed a couple of hot teas in front of us. Up on the stage in the front, a man in a trench coat was reading a poem about dogs.

I put some sugar in my tea as Raven began to sip hers.

"I guess that does make life easier," I said as I began to sip my tea, "no paparazzi to harass you."

"When Rob and Star go out," Raven said, "they get hounded plenty. Beast Boy loves the attention, I think. He sees a camera, he drops whatever he's doing and poses. Sometimes as different animals."

"What about Cyborg?"

"I'm not sure about him," Raven replied, "He actually does have a girlfriend in the city, but he's apparently really smart about how he sees her."

I blinked at that. "That dude has a girlfriend? Wow, good for him!"

"Yeah, he met her while he was doing some public outreach with amputee children." Raven looked down at her empty teacup and frowned. "I don't remember ordering this. Do you?"

I looked at my own teacup. My head was feeling a little weird. Like it was filling with cotton.

"Not me."

Raven was looking at me funny. Her eyes flashed red for a brief second. So fast, I almost missed it. Her face looked a little flushed.

"Maybe we should get out of here... go for walk or somethin'" I slurred. I blinked in surprise. Was that my voice? My eyes were feeling a little heavy.

Raven reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of twenties. She dropped them on the table and climbed to her feet. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

"Let's go," she muttered. Her face looked very flushed now.

We staggered outside.

"Uh..." I mumbled, "I think you'd better drive. I can't seem to keep my eyes open or sumthin'."

We started to walk past an alley way when Raven suddenly pulled us both in and pushed me up against the wall. Her eyes seemed to glow slightly red now.

"Ok?" I managed to get out.

She grabbed my head and pulled me down to her lips and kissed me. Passionately. I felt her tongue enter my mouth, then a black portal opened behind me in the wall and I felt us fall backwards.

* * *

Raven's head hurt. She sat up in bed, her mind in a disarray of disjointed memories. Then she looked next to her and realized she wasn't alone in her bed. Mark lay there on his back, lightly snoring. His chest bare above the covers. Definitely chubby. Then it hit Raven that Mark's presence in her bed seemed out of place compared to her usual mornings.

She started to climb out of bed when she also realized she was completely naked. Also, going by the residue between her legs and the sticky feeling of dried sweat on her body, it became clear that they hadn't just been sleeping in the same bed. The disjointed memories suddenly made sense. Raven got up and seated herself in a lotus position in her meditation circle. She cleared her mind as she slowly levitated above the floor.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she quietly chanted.

The memories began to paint a strange picture in her mind. Her pulling Mark into an alleyway. Passionate kissing. Then opening a portal back to her room in the Tower. She practically tore the clothing from Mark's body. She was finally able to identify the peculiar taste in her mouth.

 _Oh Azar... I had that in my mouth... and I swallowed..._

She blushed a little when she remembered that the thing in question hadn't exactly been small.

Then Raven recalled the main act itself. Also passionate. It was like she had raped Mark, though he seemed a willing participant. She remembered the orgasms that wracked her body. Raven opened her eyes and glanced up at her ceiling.

Every overhead light was blown.

* * *

It was a lurid dream I was having. I wanted to classify it as yet another wet dream. I was having sex with Raven and she was on top. Oh man, it felt good.

"Wake up."

I smacked my lips and opened my eyes slowly. Melvin would be hungry and demanding food. Usually he would just sit on my head and paw at my face, but for some reason he was telling me to wake up. In Raven's voice.

"Mark, wake up."

I reached for my glasses on the night stand, except they weren't there. I sat up and that's when the pain in my head hit me. I cradled my face in my hands.

"Oh god, my head."

 _Wait, why am I naked?_

At that point I began to question the veracity of my dream. Then I looked to the side and squinted. I saw Raven sitting there on the bed, a sheet wrapped around her body and an unreadable expression on her face.

"Oh my god," I whispered, "Raven? Did we...?"

"Yes," she said simply.

My mind felt like it was going to implode.

"Did I," I began stammering, "Did I date rape you? Oh my god! What have I done? Oh my god! Raven, I'm so sorry!"

Raven put a finger to my lips.

"Mark, shut up," she said, "I'm not entirely clear how we ended up having sex, but I'm very certain that it wasn't because you forced me to."

"But maybe I took advantage of you!" I said urgently, pulling her finger away, "What if I did something? Oh my god, Raven! How could this be consensual? Did I ask you? Did you say yes?"

Raven grabbed my face between her warm hands and stared into my eyes.

"Calm. Down."

I took her hands in mine. "You don't understand, Raven," I babbled, wide-eyed, "I've been in love with you since my senior year of high school! I would never want to hurt you or force you into something you didn't want to do! I need to tell Robin! I need to turn myself in!"

Raven gripped my hands. "Mark."

I stopped talking as I stared into her amethyst eyes. "I... just admitted out loud that I loved you, didn't I?"

"Yes," Raven said, "you did."

I felt my face grow immensely hot as I blushed furiously.

"I... I need to go." I jumped out of the bed and began frantically grabbing my clothes from the floor. My pants and shirt looked like they had been mauled by a mountain lion. My underwear... was in pieces. I put on what I could and ran for the door to open it. Beast Boy stood there looking surprised.

"Whoa, dude!" he exclaimed. He looked at my clothes and I saw him sniffing the air. The surprise on his face grew as his eyebrows went up so high, I thought they would disappear under his hair. "You and Raven... really?"

I pushed past him and ran for the stairway. I didn't hear Raven call my name as I disappeared down the stairs.

* * *

"So. what did you find?"

Cyborg leaned against the counter in the infirmary next to the chemical analyzer and looked at Raven.

"Looks like traces of Rohypnol in your urine," he said, "When do you think Mark spiked your drink?"

The emotions rolling of Cyborg were almost overwhelming to Raven. Betrayal, fury, a desire to hurt someone.

"Mark didn't spike my drink," Raven said.

"How can you be sure?"

"Vic, we had literally just sat down when someone brought over two cups of tea. We didn't order it, but we drank it like a couple of idiots." Raven rubbed her face. "We were so engrossed in our conversation, I didn't even think to check to see if anyone around us had hostile intentions. I let my guard down. I screwed up."

Raven looked back up at Cyborg. "Vic, you have to get a sample from Mark and see if he also has traces of this stuff."

Cyborg blinked for a moment. "Raven, if you both were roofied, how did you end up in bed together?"

Raven looked away and rubbed her arms. "That class of drug actually has a different affect on people like me."

"People like you?"

"Half-demons."

Cyborg arched an eyebrow. "What does it do to you?"

Raven mumbled something.

"What was that? Big bro can't hear you."

Raven's eyes flashed white and she glared at Cyborg as black energy enveloped the light above. It sparked dangerously.

"It makes half-demons become sexually aroused and aggressive," she growled, "Ok?"

Cyborg blinked again.

"That would actually be... funny," he finally said, "if it wasn't so weird."

* * *

I sat in my room on the bed and stroked Melvin. My mind was in a complete disarray. On one hand, I had sex with someone whom I'd been in love with for a long time. On the other hand, I only could seem to remember bits and pieces of the experience. On the third hand (hands are dumb to use for this kind of comparison) I had no idea how or why we ended up in the sack. I had begun to suspect that I'd been drugged somehow. Maybe the tea?

My phone buzzed and I picked it up.

"H-hello?"

"Dude," Cyborg said, "Get your ass down to the infirmary."

The phone clicked as he disconnected.

When I opened the door to the infirmary, Cyborg tossed me a plastic cup with a sealed lid.

"Go fill this and bring it back to me," he said.

I squinted at the cup in my hands stupidly. "Fill it with what?"

"Here's a hint," Cyborg responded sarcastically, "I'm not talking about your hopes and dreams."

I came back a few minutes later and handed him the sample. He took it and ran it through the chemical analyzer. After a few minutes, he looked at the results.

"Well, shit."

"What is it?" I asked.

He turned to look at me. "You got traces of Rohypnol."

"What the hell is that?"

"Roofie, dude." Cyborg turned to look at me again. "Both you and Raven got roofied last night."

* * *

I sat there in the conference room. I felt like absolute trash. Shit. A filthy bastard of a human being. How could I have let that happen to Raven? And how could I have taken advantage of her... I think?

Robin sat at the head of the table, his gloved hands clasped. His face was mostly unreadable. Cyborg sat across from me.

"So to be clear," Robin said, "You and Raven went out to dinner and then you woke up in bed together? That's it in a nutshell?"

"Well, not exactly like that," I said softly, "We went to Emma's for dinner, then we went to the Overhang. After that, it's kind of blurry."

I felt tears forming in my eyes and I stared at the table.

"I'm so sorry, Robin," I whispered, "I don't know what happened, but I accept the blame. I think I may have date-raped Raven and I think I need to go to the police."

The door slid open admitting Raven. I couldn't bear to even look at her for what I had done.

"Both their urine tests came back positive for Rohypnol," Cyborg said, "so they both got roofied."

Raven sat down across from me next to Cyborg. Then she put my glasses on the table. I gratefully picked them up and put them on.

"Listen to me carefully, Mark," Raven said. She glanced up at Cyborg and Robin. "And I don't expect this information to leave this room, right Robin? Cyborg already knows."

Robin just nodded. Raven then looked back to me.

"Mark, I'm half-demon," she continued, "so some drugs affect me differently then regular people. Drugs like Rohypnol..." she hesitated, "well, they don't make me sleepy or woozy. They actually cause an increase in the flow of certain hormones in my body. They intensify specific desires and emotions..."

I blinked. "So what are you saying?"

For the first time since I met her, Raven blushed.

"It makes me aroused and aggressive," she admitted, "Er, in a sexual way. In fact, since the Rohypnol probably affected you like a normal human, the likely scenario here is that I brought you back to my room without asking you."

My mind was blown. The girl of my dreams just told me that she thought she might have actually date-raped me. Could that happen?

Robin and Cyborg looked at each other.

"This officially takes the cake as the most awkward and fucked up conversation I've ever been privy to," Cyborg said.

"Agreed, this really is awkward as hell," Robin muttered, scratching the back of his head. He looked at me. "Do you want to press charges?"

I blinked again. "Press charges?" I asked dumbfounded, "Fuck no! No, I don't want to press charges!"

I grabbed Raven's hands in mine. "I don't know exactly what happened last night or who roofied our tea, but I wouldn't trade what happened for anything!" I felt my own face get hot. "I was so wrapped up thinking I did something wrong to you... I forgot to ask you what your feelings were!"

Raven turned red again. "Well... I didn't hate what happened between us."

Robin drummed his fingers on the table and the two of us looked back over at him.

"Before this gets all angsty and weirder," Robin said, "We need to figure out why this happened and who would have done it."

Cyborg nodded in agreement. "Yeah, why would someone slip the two of you roofies? What would be the purpose of that?"

Robin scratched his chin. "Vic, what's the usual human response to that stuff?"

"Drowsiness, confusion, anterograde amnesia... It's why it's considered a date-rape drug."

I blinked. "Wait, what's the amnesia one?"

"Anterograde amnesia," Robin replied, "It means you wouldn't remember things that might have happened while you were on it."

Cyborg looked at me for a moment.

"How quickly did you start feeling weird?" he asked.

I scratched my head. "I don't know, exactly. I remember Raven asking if I remembered ordering that tea."

"It started affecting me within twenty minutes or so," Raven said. She looked back at me. "You started slurring your words a little around that time."

"Hmm," Cyborg pondered.

"What is it?"

"Well, Rohypnol usually peaks out after two hours, but it sounds like it hit you two pretty fast."

Robin looked thoughtful.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Vic?"

"That maybe this was a kidnapping attempt?" Cyborg responded.

My eyes widened.

"Why would anyone want to kidnap Raven?" I asked stupidly.

Raven looked at me again.

"Aside from the fact that there are more than a few people who would love to have me or anyone else in the Tower as prisoners, they were more than likely looking to kidnap you."

"Oh..." I said dumbly, "Well, why would anyone want to kidnap me?"

"That's what we need to find out," Robin replied, "Me and Vic are going to head down to the Overhang and talk to some people. Somebody had to have seen the person who served your tea."

"My car is still parked down there," I said, feeling a little dazed, "It's got my leftover chicken marsala in the back seat."

"Give me your keys," Robin said, "We'll bring it back for you."

I handed him my car keys. "Thanks."

"We need to talk," Raven said to me. She looked at Cyborg and Robin. "Alone."

Robin nodded and he and Cyborg left the conference room.

"We should... talk... about what happened," Raven said.

I looked into her beautiful amethyst eyes.

"Raven," I said, "I know what happened wasn't ideal and certainly wasn't something we intended..."

"You were my first."

I blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said you were my first... lover."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to her. She went on.

"Mark, you really do seem like an interesting guy, and I'd like to get to know you better," Raven continued, "but I'm simply not someone who can afford to let her baser instincts rule her..."

I blinked.

"Are you trying to tell me that you don't kiss on the first date or something?"

Raven blushed again and I noticed black energy beginning to surround the overhead lights.

"I'm saying I need to be in optimum control of my emotions," she said finally. She pointed at the energy around the lights. "Otherwise that happens."

"Raven," I said softly. She met my eyes. "I was afraid I babbled out too much this morning, but those are my real feelings. I'd love for us to, um, do what we did last night again... but I'd like that to happen while we're both sober and not being influenced by any drugs."

"I can't guarantee that may happen again," Raven said simply.

I nodded. "I can accept that." I paused for a moment. "On a more personal but related note... did we um, use any uh... protection... last night?"

Raven shook her head. "No, but I've been on the pill since the age of fourteen. It helps me regulate my cycle." She looked at me for a moment. "Since we're laying out all the personal questions now... do you mind if I ask you something?"

I shrugged. "Sure, go ahead."

"Your... penis. It's much larger than average, isn't it?"

I felt my face grow hot. I wasn't quite sure what the right answer to that was.

"Um... uh... w-why do you ask?"

Raven arched an eyebrow. Her face was still flushed, so I could tell this wasn't the most comfortable question for her either.

"Well, after last night... let's just say that I'm walking a bit funny right now and leave it at that."

I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes.

"Ok, this is definitely the most awkward as fuck conversation I've ever had."

"We don't have to talk about it," she said.

"No no, it's ok," I replied with a sigh.

"Was your size the reason your ex broke up with you?"

I blinked at that. "Well, that question sort of came out of left field." I sat back. "Raven, me and the ex had so many other issues, my penis size was only a minor part. At any rate, I don't think I'm that big to be honest."

I leaned forward and took her hand it mine. I looked at it and marveled at how despite being so small and smooth, it felt so strong.

"I don't really know why that happened to us last night," I finally said. I looked up into her amethyst eyes. "But I do know that I really enjoyed your company and conversation and I'd really like to go out with you again. We could just pretend a lot of this didn't happen and start over. You know, like regular people. Maybe build a relationship."

Raven arched her eyebrow again at that.

"I enjoyed talking with you, Mark," Raven said, "Dinner was a lot of fun and that's rare for me." She paused for a moment. "But on the off chance we go out again, let's skip the Overhang." 


	4. Chapter 4

_I think the biggest challenge I've had so far on this story is keeping it interesting. From Mark's point of view, there simply isn't a lot of action, though that is going to change. So for now I've been concentrating on the interactions between Mark and the Titans. There is a lot of talking going on and it's also been hard keeping Raven in character. She's simply not fluffy or overly angsty. She's a strong woman who isn't going to collapse into a pile of weepy emotions or angst and she certainly isn't going to curl up for cuddles and kisses. That's just not who she is. That's kind of what I like about her character. I don't want to fall into the common romance tropes. I also need to bring in Starfire more as I don't feel like I'm doing her proper justice._

 _Overall though, I'm pretty happy and excited with where the story is going. There are still many things to develop, villains to decide on, plot twists to work out. Lots of work ahead. Please feel free to review me and tell me how I'm doing. Reviews are writer's crack. We need them to keep our egos alive._

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** I don't own any of these characters, except for Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

When I returned to my office, I found a rather stressed out Beast Boy pacing back and forth like a stalking lion. He stopped when he saw me enter.

"Er.. What's up, BB?"

"Dude, you know what's up," Beast Boy replied. He glared into my eyes. "You guys had one date. Raven isn't gonna give it up after one date. So what did you do?"

"Umm... it's a little complicated," I said as I slid back behind my desk.

He continued to glare at me. "Well, the fact that you aren't dead or in pieces must mean that you didn't force Rae into anything. So spill. Why were you running out of her room this morning with your clothes torn off?"

"Would you believe me if I said that nothing actually happened?" I tried with a weak smile.

Beast Boy shook his head. "No way. I can smell that stuff. When her door opened, I could smell it."

I blinked at him. "Really? You can smell that?"

"Dude, I'm Beast Boy. Got that whole animal thing working for me."

"I see."

Beast Boy grabbed my guest chair and spun it around to straddle it, resting his chin on the backrest.

"So what happened?"

I sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. Last night was going great. Wonderful, even. Raven is enchanting, interesting, and fascinating to talk to."

Beast Boy blinked. "Wait, our Raven?"

"How many Ravens do YOU know?" I countered. "Anyway, we went out for dinner, had a great time. Then we went to the Overhang..."

"That's that weird beatnik place, right?"

"Sure," I said, "The beatnik place. Anyway, someone brought over tea that we didn't order and we ended up drugged."

Beast Boy's eyes widened. "Dude, someone spiked your TEA?"

I gave him a withering look. "Why is that so strange?"

"It's just... tea," Beast Boy said wonderingly, "I mean, who the hell spikes TEA?"

"ANYWAY... one thing led to another, and we ended up back here. End of story."

"Dude, where are the spicy details?"

I shook my head. "I got no spicy details to share, sorry."

Beast Boy sighed, then stood up.

"Well, just so you know," he said, "I would take you outside and bury you like a bone if I thought you did anything bad to Rae."

I gulped. "I believe you."

I rubbed my eyes after the changeling left. This wasn't how I envisioned working for the Teen Titans. Yeah, I had always dreamed of dating Raven, but the events of the previous night had thrown me for a loop. Robin hadn't really said anything directly about what we did together, but I could tell that Cyborg was less than happy with me. Beast Boy was pretty clear that he'd rough me up like a chew toy if he thought I had hurt Raven. In fact, the only Titan that hadn't mentioned anything about the situation to me yet was Starfire. Then again, the day was still young.

By Wednesday the following week, I began to think my days working for the Teen Titans were numbered. Neither Robin nor Cyborg had mentioned finding anything when they investigated the Overhang, and Beast Boy wasn't really talking to me. But the worst snub was from Raven. It felt like she was actively avoiding me. I barely saw her at all since that Saturday. I had decided to take a wait-and-see approach to the situation, figuring it best to give her space and not bother her, but I couldn't completely bury my own hurt feelings which drove me crazy since I knew she could sense them.

Around six AM on Thursday morning, the Titan Alert klaxxon startled me out of a sound sleep. I jumped out of bed and succeeded in annoying Melvin who had been curled up on my stomach. A few minutes later, I felt the telltale vibration of the Tower garage opening. I put on my pants and bunny slippers and wandered up to the main ops room where the open kitchen was located. In terms of layout, I really liked how they setup things. The big main operations room also acted like their main rec room and eating area and a ginormous screen that would appear in the glass windows at the front. The technology was cool, since that image didn't show on the other side of the glass.

I hit up the fridge and made myself some toast and eggs. I briefly considered cooking up some breakfast for the Titans, but since I wasn't sure when they'd be back, I decided to hold off. Around 10am or so, I startled awake from where I had been dozing on the couch. The main elevator opened and the five Teen Titans exited looking somber. Robin gave me a nod before heading to the table.

"Friend Mark," Starfire greeted me. She floated over to me as I stood up.

"Hey Star," I said, "Why does everyone look so down?"

Starfire leaned over to me.

"This morning we encountered the villain called Kardiak," she said in a low voice, "and it was trying to kidnap some of the earth children from the bus of schools."

Starfire sighed and glanced over to where a hooded Raven had moved to stand near the window, staring out.

"We were victorious... but," Starfire shifted her bright green eyes back to my face, "several of the children were injured, rather badly. Friend Raven feels responsible, I think."

I glanced back over at the solitary dark Titan.

"But it wasn't her fault," I said.

"No, it was not."

"Thanks Star," I replied, giving her small smile. I headed over to where Raven was standing.

Raven continued to stare out of the window with her hood up. It felt like her blue cloak was acting like a barrier between her and everyone else. I took a deep breath.

"In case you forget or something," I said softly, "Those kids think you are a hero. I think so too."

"What do you know?" Raven responded sharply, "You weren't there, you didn't see those kids get hurt."

"Because I believe in you Teen Titans," I responded simply, "I may be some chubby schlub systems engineer, but I don't think you wouldn't have done anything other than your absolute best. You guys are my heroes."

"Sometimes that isn't enough."

"Sometimes you have to work with what you have and limit the damage. I bet those kids are still thrilled that they got to meet the Teen Titans."

Raven placed her hands against the window.

"Two of those kids will be lucky if they ever walk again. Don't try to comfort me when you have no idea what you're talking about."

A black portal opened in the window beneath Raven's hands and she vanished.

I noticed the other Titans watching me as I turned back around.

"Uh, what?" I asked, feeling my face flush, "I..I was just reminding Raven that she needs to change her email password soon. She's... uh... going to do that right now."

I quickly left the ops area and fled back to my office.

I buried my face in my hands and sighed. Great. Just great. Now, not only was Raven going to avoid me, but now she was also annoyed with me.

My office door slid open and Cyborg walked in. He sat down in my guest chair.

I looked up at him. "Is this the part where I'm finally fired?"

Cyborg blinked at me.

"No man, you're not getting fired. What makes you think that?"

I sighed. "Oh I dunno, maybe that it feels like everyone is avoiding me... except maybe Starfire."

Cyborg shook his head. "Nah dude. I'm sorry you felt like that, but Rob and I were pretty busy with several cases. BB is a little yutz, and Raven... well, she's Raven. She deals with things that bother her in her own way."

"Yeah, I figured as much," I said, "It's just that I thought Raven and I had figured things out and were going to play it by ear. Instead she's been ignoring me since Saturday. My ego is taking a beating."

"You just gotta give Raven some time, that's all," Cyborg said, "What happened with you two on Friday night... Well, Raven is probably pissed off at herself. The shit that went down this morning probably didn't help either."

"But why is that? Why is she blaming herself for everything?"

"Look at it from her perspective, Mark," Cyborg responded, "She's a Titan. She's supposed to be always vigilant. To always be aware of what's going on. But she let her guard down, and then shit happened."

"Well, I don't see it as shit happening per se..."

"You're missing the point," he countered, "It's not that you ended up back in her room. It's that if the roofies had affected you both as intended, your face would probably be on a milk carton now."

Cyborg lifted his hands.

"I mean, who seriously could have known that shit would affect half-demons like that? I sure as hell didn't, and I know everything."

I blinked at the half-robotic man.

"Well, shit," I said after a moment, "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. Isn't that so, BEAST BOY?" Cyborg suddenly swiveled and punched my wall. Hard. A half-second later, it seemed like Beast Boy emerged from a tiny little spot on the wall.

I blinked hard. "What-the-fuckity-fuck..."

"Dude!" the green changeling exclaimed from where he had landed on the floor. "You didn't have to shake the wall like that!"

Cyborg grabbed Beast Boy and dropped him into my other guest chair. The changeling grinned sheepishly at me.

"Somebody was a literal fly on the wall," Cyborg growled.

I stared at Beast Boy. "Holy shit-snacks! You can turn into insects too?"

"I can turn into anything in the animal kingdom," Beast Boy said proudly.

"Why were you spying, you little grass-stain?" Cyborg demanded.

"Nobody was telling me anything! All I knew was they got drugged and slept together!"

"How did you even know that much?" Cyborg yelled.

I held up my hands.

"Um, I told him," I said sheepishly.

Cyborg arched an eyebrow at me. "Well, it's your funeral when Raven finds out."

"Hey," I said, "I couldn't hide it! He saw me run out of Raven's room. Claimed he smelled it on me!"

Cyborg looked back at Beast Boy. "...you can smell that?"

"Yeah dude, it's like animals banging in a zoo, except it's more earthy and funky."

I sighed again. "Look, while I do feel better that you guys are talking to me again, I have shit to do if I'm not fired."

Beast Boy stood up and closed my office door. I blinked at him.

"I wanted to say some stuff to you," the changeling said. Cyborg and I looked at each other.

"I told you that Raven was like an older sister to me?" Beast Boy went on, "Well, it's a little more than that."

He sat back down in the guest chair.

"A few years ago, there was this dude in a book and stuff, except he wasn't really a dude in a book, he was really a dragon in a book because he made it look like the dude that locked him in the book was actually the dude that was locked in the book... or something."

"...what?" I asked, dazed.

"Lemme finish! So the dude in the book convinced Raven that he was a good dude, but he wasn't a good dude, and he took advantage of Raven's feelings and stuff and convinced her that he was really a good dude wrongfully trapped in the book and I think Raven fell hard for him and stuff cuz he was like, all gothic and had a British accent, and then he turned out to really be a dragon and a douchebag and he really hurt her."

"I'm completely lost," I admitted, "So she dated a British guy who lived in a book?"

"I know what he's talking about," Cyborg finally said, "It was a dragon that had been trapped in the pages of a magical book. Raven let him out. That was around the last time we fought with Kardiak."

"Raven got really upset that a little kid almost got hurt that last time," Beast Boy said, "When the dude from the book turned out to be an asshat and Raven put him back in the book..." Beast Boy fell silent for a moment, his ears dropping a little. "I heard Raven crying in her room. It wasn't loud, but I could hear it. Raven never cries, but she cried that day." He looked back at me. "I don't want to ever hear Raven cry like that again."

"I never want to make her cry..." I said, "Though I suspect she'd have me crying way before that happened." I scratched my chin. "On another note, what the hell is Kardiak, exactly?"

* * *

A few hours later, after I got back from a quick (and fortunately uneventful) trip into town, I sat down at my computer and sent a text message to Raven's phone.

 ** _Hi, if you're not busy, would you mind if I dropped by for a minute?_**

It seemed like lots of time went by before my phone buzzed.

 _ **What do you want?**_

I whistled. Well, that didn't feel cold now, did it?

 _ **Just to talk**_

I waited again in agony.

 _ **I'm busy.**_

I wanted to bury my face in my arms and weep like a pansy. But then I remembered that I'm rugged and intrepid with a beard, and rugged, intrepid bearded dudes don't weep like pansies.

 ** _All I ask is but a minute of your time... then I shall leave you alone._**

It must have been five minutes or so before the response came.

 _ **Fine. Come now and we'll talk.**_

I was out of my chair and down the hall to the stairway before I even finished reading her response. A few minutes later, I stood outside her door. I felt anxious, and annoyed that I felt anxious since I was sure she could sense these emotions coming off me. The door slid open a crack before I could knock and I saw half of her hooded face appear in the opening.

"So talk."

I blinked. Then gulped. I took a deep breath.

"Raven, I wanted to apologize for this morning," I said, "You were right. I had no idea what you were dealing with or what happened. It was probably more than a little presumptuous and insensitive of me to wander over and start trying to lay down some dumb-ass folksy wisdom like I'm some super-experienced grown-up douche-nozzle in an after-school special." I focused on where I could see the violet gleam of her eye from under her hood. "I just... want to understand you more. To be someone who listens to you."

I held up the plastic bag I was carrying.

"I also come bearing gifts," I said with a small smile.

Raven watched me for a moment longer from under her hood. Then her door slid open all the way and she stepped to the side.

"Come in."

Raven's room was dark and the curtains were drawn to block out the light. There were some lit candles on the floor surrounding her meditation circle. The door slid shut, cutting off any light from the hallway. In the strange twilight of her room, I could see Raven's silhouette and I could make out the gleam of her eyes from under her hood. She nodded to the plastic bag.

"So what did you bring?"

I took out a big bag of Hershey's Kisses.

"Chocolate," I said, "Lot's of chocolate."

I reached into the plastic bag again and took out the second thing I picked up. A black rose.

"I also got this for you," I continued, "because it reminded me of you. Dark, thorny, but innately beautiful."

"You left the Tower to buy me a rose and chocolate," Raven said, "despite the possibility that there are people who may want to kidnap you. You're an idiot."

Raven lifted her hand and her eyes briefly flashed white. The Hershey's Kisses bag and the black rose were enveloped in dark energy and were plucked from my hands. The two peace offerings floated over to land on her desk. She lowered her hood and looked at me, her face unreadable.

She gestured to the small couch near the back of her room.

"Sit."

My eyes were more used to the gloom in her room, and I could make out more detail. There were several antique looking bookcases filled with books and lining the wall. The dark colored couch I settled myself on felt soft and comfy and I could imagine the dark Titan curling up on it with a book or two. There was an antique reading lamp that extended over the couch, and a comfy looking ottoman in front. The floor beyond her little reading area appeared to be inscribed with various symbols and circles, one of which appeared to be her meditation circle. Overall, it was a dark and gloomy room, but seemed to fit the personality of its owner. It also felt strangely comfortable to me.

"I find you incredibly distracting," Raven said. She sat down at the other end of the couch and peered at me.

"Well... I find you distracting too..." I returned uncertainly.

"Mark, you are just so different from any other person I've known."

"Is... that a good thing?" I asked, hesitantly.

Raven rubbed her forehead. "What happened Friday night should never have happened."

"Well, we were both drugged..."

"I'm not talking about the sex, though that shouldn't have happened either. I'm talking about how I screwed up and put you in danger."

"Wait," I said, "you could never have known what might have happened."

"Actually, I absolutely should have known," Raven sighed, "Mark, I'm an empath among other things. I always have my senses opened for hostile intentions when on my own in public. But for some reason, when we were talking, I let my guard down. It was only a fluke that those drugs affected me that way. Whoever had spiked the tea probably expected us both to be dazed. They would have left me and taken you, and we still don't know what they wanted you for."

"Ok, seriously now," I said, "how do you know they weren't looking to take you hostage? What makes you think it was me they were after?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at me.

"Because I'd be a lot more dangerous when I woke up." Raven cocked her head. "And in the off chance that it was me they were after, what do you think they would have done with you?"

I swallowed. "Um... I'm guessing 'return me to the Tower unharmed' wouldn't have been an option?"

"In either case, Mark, you were in danger because I screwed up." Raven shook her head. "Just like today. Those kids got hurt today because I screwed up. I absolutely cannot afford to screw up."

"So basically, in a nutshell, you're saying you don't want to be around me because I distract you and you're afraid you'll screw up?"

Raven nodded.

"That sounds like an angsty pile of crap."

Raven blinked. I think it was the closest I've seen her to surprise.

"Raven," I continued, "I know I'm not a superhero or a meta-human or even a skilled fighter, but I am a big boy. I know how to recognize danger, and I know when I'm in over my head." I looked her in the eyes. "I also know how I feel about you." I winced. "And I know I babbled a bit too much about it when I woke up on Saturday. What I don't believe at all is that you bear any responsibility for what happened."

"I should have-"

"Shoulda, coulda, woulda, didn't," I said, interrupting her with a wave of my hand, "It doesn't matter. There could be a hundred different reasons why you didn't notice anything amiss Friday night, but you being slack or unaware isn't one of them. Raven, you're only human."

"Half-human..."

"I don't care if you're half tree. To me you're all human. Look, I don't even like tea, but I drank it that night because I'm stupid... and I because I found you distracting as well."

I smiled at her. "You wanna know something else? Even if I was kidnapped, it wouldn't have mattered. You and the Titans would have found me and rescued me. Because you guys are heroes and that's what heroes do. I would have sat there tied to a chair and crying and blubbering to my captors that the Teen Titans were gonna come and kick all their asses if they didn't let me go."

Raven was silent for a moment. Then I saw the corners of her mouth lift slightly.

"Really," she said, "you would have sat there... crying and blubbering."

"Yup."

"With big fat tears rolling down your cheeks."

"You betcha."

"Blubbering."

"And you guys would bust in," I said, "and busted out some snappy quips while you busted heads."

"Snappy quips, hmm?"

I was on a roll now. "Yeah! Like maybe you telekinetically throw a surfboard at one of the bad guys... your snappy quip would be...?"

"Surf's up, loser?" Raven suggested. Her small smile seemed a little bigger.

"Or if Cyborg picks up a car that has bad guys in it, he'd probably say something like 'better buckle up cuz you're goin' for a ride!'"

"If it were the H.I.V.E. academy," Raven said with a smirk, "Robin would probably say something like 'School's out and you bozos are in permanent detention!'"

I grinned at her.

"My point is, Raven," I said, looking into her amethyst eyes, "that we don't live in a safe world. I don't want to give up living and having a good time over what MIGHT happen."

"You mean to live in the now," Raven responded with a raised eyebrow, "You know that's a really zen-like outlook."

"Yeah," I said, "I'm good like that."

"Well, at the very least I'm no longer annoyed with you from this morning." Raven stood up and motioned toward her door. "I'm glad we talked. Now get lost. I have things to do."

I also stood up. "By the way, Beast Boy mentioned this elaborate rambling story about an ex-boyfriend of yours that lived in a book."

"Did he now?" Any amusement that had been in Raven's voice a moment before had now vanished.

I looked back at Raven and blinked. The smile was gone and her face was guarded again.

"What did he say about it?" Raven asked.

"He just yammered on about a dragon... called him a douchebag..." I was starting to feel like a total toolbag for bringing it up. "I'm sorry. You clearly don't want to talk about it. My bad."

Raven just looked at me for a moment longer. Then she sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Look Mark," she said, "I don't know what kind of relationship we might have, or could have, or what you hope to have, but there's a lot of things about me that I'm simply not ready for you to know about."

I nodded. "It's cool, I understand." I scratched the back of my head. "I just wanted you to know that I'll never turn out to be a douchebag dragon hiding in a book... Also, I'm not suave and British, just paunchy and American. I can do a semi-passable Australian accent though."

The bag of Hershey's Kisses flew in a nimbus of dark energy to Raven's hands and she opened it.

"On second thought, I'm going to need chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Sit down if you want to hear about this."

I obediently returned to the couch and sat back down.

Raven unwrapped several of the chocolate kisses and popped them into her mouth. From her face and her closed eyes, I could tell she definitely liked the chocolate. And I definitely liked watching her face as she enjoyed them. She closed the bag and seated herself lotus style in her meditation circle and faced me.

"Over a thousand years ago," Raven began, "a mighty wizard from the land of Nol fought an ancient dragon in a contest of magic. The dragon proved to be too powerful for the wizard to defeat, so in one last act of his waning strength the wizard cursed the dragon and threw him down, trapping the dragon within the pages of the wizard's spellbook. This spellbook passed through many hands over the centuries until four years ago, when it came into mine."

I was fascinated with Raven's voice. She had the natural cadence of a gifted storyteller and I found myself hanging on every word. Also, this sounded like the preamble to an amazing story.

Raven paused for a moment to eat another Hershey's Kiss. Then she began to speak more.

"I was enraptured with the story as I read through the book. It detailed their battle, the power of the spells being cast. The lengths the wizard went to in order to vanquish this enemy."

Her eyes focused on me.

"However, I was and still am, a Teen Titan. I was interrupted as I approached the story climax." Raven's eyes narrowed at the memory. "More than once. That was when we first encountered Kardiak."

"The, uh, flying heart monster thing, right?" I asked.

Raven arched an eyebrow at me. "If you already know this story, don't let the sliding door hit you in the ass on the way out."

"No, no," I said quickly, "I heard about Kardiak, but that's it."

"Anyway, after many more interruptions and an argument with Beast Boy, I finally completed the tale. It was then the book spoke to me. His name was Malchior, and he seemed to understand me in ways that no one else ever did."

Raven sighed at the memory.

"Malchior was able to assume the form of a man made of paper. He was knowledgable, brilliant, and he listened to me." Raven looked into my eyes. "Really listened to me. I had gotten used to people treating me like I was simply creepy and dark. Beast Boy would constantly tell me to lighten up and get frustrated when I told him he wasn't funny. Then Malchior was there and he laughed with me. Listened to my hopes, my fears, my dreams. Gave me advice. He preyed upon my insecurities and I never noticed. He also taught me much about black magic. Took advantage of my thirst for knowledge and then I finally freed him from the book using the magic he showed me."

Raven fell silent for a moment, remembering. Her face seemed dark and distant.

"Malchior had tricked me. He controlled the book, so he switched the role of the wizard with his own. He had me convinced that he was the wizard Malchior of Nol and that Rorek the dragon had imprisoned Malchior in his own spellbook, and like a naive fool, I believed him."

I remembered reading a report on some media sites four years ago of a dragon-like creature fighting with the Titans over their Tower. The pictures of it were disturbing to say the least. A large and magnificent black dragon that spouted flames into the sky.

"So what happened after that?" I asked quietly.

"In order to learn the spell to free Malchior," Raven said, "I also learned about the curse that had trapped him. So I cast the curse again."

Raven glanced at an old chest that sat near the foot of her bed. "I keep the book now as a reminder to myself that I always need to be vigilant." She looked back at me. "And NEVER let my guard down again."

I looked at her thoughtfully. I could almost imagine the younger, more impressionable girl that she had been. Someone who felt misunderstood, alienated, alone. The public persona that Raven had put up during those early years was certainly the polar opposite of the girl she had been.

"You know, I think I recognized that in you back then," I said.

Raven arched an eyebrow at me.

"Recognized what?"

"When you started with the Teen Titans, you were like fourteen, and I was eighteen, and that's like totes creepsville for me to have had any feelings for you back then." I cocked my head. "But there was just something about you... something that really touched me and made me want to know more about you.

"Yeah, I know that sounds really stalker-like," I admitted, "but back then, even in publicity shots or pics of the Titans when you were out doing shit... well you just looked so alone. I can see why Malchior appealed to you then."

Raven looked at me for moment longer.

"You were pretty perceptive, apparently."

"I thought you were also dark and beautiful," I said, "Malchior might have fed you those lines and preyed on your insecurities, but he wasn't wrong about who you were and what you wanted."

I took my glasses off and carefully cleaned them before putting them back on.

"But I think you've changed so much since then. I don't see a naive and lost young girl in front of me at all."

"What do you see now?"

"I see a mature and exotically beautiful woman that is amazingly confident and constantly composed," I responded.

Raven was silent for a moment.

"This morning, I tore apart Kardiak with my power. I didn't realize he had already captured two kids. They fell out and hit the ground. Hard." Raven ate some more chocolate. "The rest of Kardiak's body smashed into a schoolbus and rolled it over. All this because I had been distracted. That's why I was upset this morning. Confident and constantly composed you say? Barely."

"Well... shit," I responded.

"This is who I am, Mark," Raven went on, "I'm a dark, brooding, gothic, half-demon. If I didn't have my friends, I'd have lost my humanity and probably my sanity a long time ago. Is that someone you want to date?"

"Yeah," I answered, "as long as it's you."

I stood up again as stretched my legs.

"Raven, my biggest worry has been trying to figure out if you really were interested in dating me. I already know I'd like to go out with you."

I looked back at Raven. Her face was thoughtful.

"You know... since you don't want me leaving the Tower right now... maybe we could get together tonight and watch a movie or something," I suggested, "if I'm not too much of a distraction to your dark and brooding and gothic times."

Raven looked at me for a moment longer.

"What movies do you have?"

I grinned as I felt the heavy atmosphere lift a little. I pulled up my media server on my phone. Recently I had carved off a tiny network segment downstairs and hung a dedicated machine for internal use. 'Internal' as in for me, and 'use' as in a place to store my movies and other assorted media. I held the phone up so Raven could see it.

"Well, for starters I have 'Wicked Scary' one through eight, 'They Attack from Outer Space,' 'Zombies VS Aussies,' just to name a few."

Raven pursed her lips slightly as she read through my movie list.

"Well," she said finally, "I haven't seen the last 'Wicked Scary.'"

"Great! We can order out and watch it on my new big screen!" I exclaimed.

Raven arched her eyebrow at that. "So... you're inviting me back to your room? Don't you think that's being a little presumptuous?"

I blanched. "Uh... well... shit." My shoulders drooped a little. "I suppose we could watch it on the super screen in the ops room. With the other Titans."

"It might be better if we did watch it with them," she said. She cocked her head. "Are you disappointed?"

"Would you think less of me if I said yes?"

"I certainly wouldn't think any less of you than I already do, nor any more than you probably deserve."

I blinked. "Wait, was that some kind of compliment or something...?"

Raven shrugged. "Who knows? Now please get lost and take this chocolate with you before I eat the whole bag."

* * *

Movie nights at Titan's Tower was always an event. The screen was enormous in their main operations/rec center, the sound system so tuned that it redefined the concept of 'surround sound,' and the rambunctious familiarity of the Titans themselves added to the overall fun atmosphere.

I was feeling intense relief and happiness that the other Titans seemed to be talking to me again. Then again, perception is everything. There was a distinct possibility that I only thought I was being avoided. Obviously if Beast Boy had been hanging out as a fly on my office wall a lot, he hadn't abandoned me at all.

That night we ordered a whole lot of Chinese food. After I had stuffed my face, I was ready to collapse onto the big round sofa and bring up my media server. When Raven settled down next to me on the sofa, I got a weird feeling of butterflies in my stomach. It felt like I was back in high school and trying to impress a girl I liked.

Oh man, I had it bad for this girl.

Robin also settled in on the couch, and Starfire curled up next to him, her eyes aglow with her usual level of joy and merriment. Beast Boy and Cyborg soon joined us on the couch. It really felt like the Titans were just regular people that hung out together. Not just a well-trained team of superheroes, but a bunch of friends that were chilling out to watch a movie and poke fun at each other. I felt elated to be part of the gang.

I grabbed the remote and logged into the media server. Cyborg whistled when he saw the list of movies.

"Dude, just what else do you have on this thing?" he asked.

"I can show you a full list later," I replied. I glanced at Raven. "But for now I promised someone that we'd be watching... WICKED SCARY 8!"

I started the movie.

I had forgotten just how terrifying the 'Wicked Scary' movie series was, and number 8 was no different. It was one thing to watch it on my tablet or on my phone, or even my new tv, but watching it on that gigantic screen with the high-definition multi-channel surround sound had me leaping at every noise. During the movie, I had glanced over at Raven more than a few times to see if she was enjoying herself, but at some point she had lifted up her hood and hidden her face. I came to the conclusion that she was either so bored she was sleeping under that hood, or that she was really scared and she didn't want anyone to see the terror on her face.

When the movie finally ended, and I mean including the absolutely horrifying extra scene after the credits, the six of us sat in a stunned silence. Then I noticed a green tentacle move down my shoulder and across my arm.

I screamed.

The tentacle disappeared and Beast Boy threw his hands up in the air and crowed.

"That was so AWESOME! You totally screamed like a girl!"

"I do not scream like a girl!" I shouted at the changeling angrily.

Cyborg rubbed the inside of his ear with one finger. "That was a girly scream, dude."

"Yup," Robin agreed.

"It was a most feminine yell, friend Mark," Starfire said.

I looked at Raven, desperate for someone to defend my honor. She glanced up at me from under her raised hood.

"Totally. Girly."

The other Titans laughed as I grumbled about the trick Beast Boy had played on me. Then we talked about our favorite scenes. Raven didn't say anything after her comment. She just sat there with her hood up. She had taken out a book and had it open on her lap. Beast Boy leaned over to her.

"Hey Rae-Rae! You were scared, right? Remember, you gotta admit your fear!"

"Yup," Raven replied in an even monotone, "I was scared. You got me."

Beast Boy looked at me with his lopsided fanged grin. "When we saw the first Wicked Scary a few years ago, Raven lost control of her powers because she was terrified by the movie and wouldn't admit it! I thought we were all gonna die!"

Raven glared at the green changeling from under her hood. "That could still happen, you know."

Robin and Starfire stood up and stretched. "On that note," the masked Titan leader said, "I'm gonna hit the sack."

Starfire gave Robin a grin and said, "Yes, I too will be doing the hitting of the sack!"

Robin gave the alien girl a sly wink and a returned smile, then the two of them headed in the direction of their bedrooms.

Cyborg was next to stand up. "I think I'm gonna head to bed myself. Get a charge in." He looked over at me. "In the morning, we have some stuff to go over. I'll come to your office when I got everything lined up."

"Yessir," I said.

Cyborg looked over at Beast Boy. "Come on, BB. You need to get to bed too."

Beast Boy looked up at the half-metal man. "Dude, what the fuck? I think I'm old enough to know when it's time to go to bed!"

Cyborg reached over and grabbed Beast Boy by the scruff of the changelings neck. He lifted Beast Boy up and dragged him towards the living quarters. Beast Boy protested the whole way.

"Come on, dude! I don't wanna go to bed now! Seriously?" I heard the youngest Titan trail off as he was dragged out of earshot. Cyborg gave me a thumbs up before he and Beast Boy disappeared into the hallway.

I looked at Raven. She was still reading her book, though it didn't look like she had turned any pages yet.

"So," I began, "Was it true that the first movie scared the powers out of you?"

Raven slammed her book shut. "I need tea."

She stood up and walked into the kitchen area where she put a pot on to boil. I followed her and sat at the counter, watching. After a moment, Raven leaned against the counter and looked at me.

"What Beast Boy was so eloquently pointing out," Raven said, "Was that after we saw the first 'Wicked Scary' I denied my fear. However my fear manifested via my powers and things from the movie began to appear in the Tower."

"You guys have such interesting lives," I said in awe, "It feels so... episodic."

Raven blinked at that. "It does feel that way, now that I think about it." She crossed her arms. "I also feel like I'm just telling you the worst and the weirdest things about me. What about you?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, when I was ten, I used to bully the neighbor's kid. I remember one time I tossed his bike into their pool. Then his older brother found me and beat the shit out of me." I shrugged. "It just doesn't have the same fascinating quality as the Titans fighting super villains and saving the city."

Raven arched an eyebrow at that.

"Then there was the time when I de-panted him at our Little League game," I continued, "His brother found me again and beat the shit out of me."

Both of Raven's eyebrows were raised at that point.

"Well..." Raven said, "that sounds like an, um, interesting life you had."

"Yeah," I admitted, "I did ultimately get really good at running away from his older brother."

I heard a snort and a soft chuckle. Raven had covered her mouth.

When the pot boiled, Raven poured her tea. Then we started walking to our respective rooms. I stopped at the stairwell as she opened her door.

"Hey Raven," I called softly.

She turned to look at me, her hood down.

"Next time we do a movie night together," I began, "I... I think I'd like us to watch it on my tv."

Raven's mouth twitched slightly into a small smile. She turned back to her room.

"I think I'd like that too." I heard her say softly before her door slid shut.


	5. Chapter 5

_I feel like this story is moving right along. There certainly is a lot of talking between the characters, but I think I'm finally finding Raven's voice. The real action will begin in the next chapter as things start to happen. At any rate, I hope people continue to enjoy what I got going on here, and I certainly hope nobody is bored. :-) Insert pandering for reviews here_

 _ **Standard Disclaimer** : I don't own any of these characters, except Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips  
_

* * *

Thursday morning proved to be exceptionally busy. I was on a group video webconference with the datacenter managers for Titan's East, North, South, the Watchtower, and the JLU's headquarters in Metropolis.

Since Robin and Cyborg introduced me to the subterranean datacenter below the Tower, my days had been spent in a combination of arranging massive cross-connects, collaborating on large scale secured VPNS, and configuring tons of cloud-based storage. Everything had to be coordinated perfectly, or our go-live date would be in jeopardy.

Monica Jones was the systems manager for the Watchtower. Since the Watchtower was pretty much the primary base for the JLU, it put her in the driver's seat for coordinating our efforts. Her plan and design was to have the cloud primarily live between the four Titan towers and the Hall of Justice and to maintain the Watchtower's massive DC as a disaster recovery site as well as off-planet archiving. It made a lot of sense to me. What better place for data backups than off the damned planet?

Monica was an extremely attractive black woman with an efficient style to both her hair and her clothes. Being in her thirties (none of us were brave enough to ask her actual age) she had way more experience than any of the rest of us.

From Titan's East, Bob Rifka maintained his office and datacenter. He was a little older than me. Pasty-faced with a weird twitch that would make him seem like he was winking at you at weird times. He was also really skinny and was already balding, despite only being twenty-five.

From Titan's North, Dave Ngyuen ran the show for that datacenter. He was definitely heavy-set, and I swear it seemed like he was constantly drinking can after can of soda, like a chain-smoker, except with soda cans.

Titan's South had my favorite datacenter manager. Sam Jackson. Sam was a black dude around my age. Better shape than me. Probably better looking too. But I reveled in poking fun at his name being similar to a well known actor.

Finally, the JLU's Hall of Justice in Metropolis had Dana James running their show. She was also about my age, blonde with green eyes and a tendency to wear black lipstick and chew gum.

Monica shuffled some papers on her viewscreen.

"Dave, how are we looking on your end? Did you get that VPN system installed?"

Dave swigged half a can of root beer before responding.

"Yes ma'am," he said, "It finally showed up today, so it's on my list of shit to do before lunch time."

Monica nodded. "How about you, Bob?"

"Got that installed last week," Bob responded, "Installing the repeater this week."

"Dana? What's your status?"

Dana popped the bubble she had been blowing. "I've been ready to go since last week."

"Sam?"

"Got that hardware sitting right here in my office. I should have it up by tomorrow."

"That just leaves you, Mark," Monica said, "What's your status?"

"I put the hardware order in last week," I said, "Wayne Tech said it shipped, but I'm still waiting for it to get here."

"Email me when you figure out what's up," she replied. She leaned back in her chair and stretched inadvertantly giving all of us a great view of her spectacular chest.

"So the last thing on the agenda," Monica finally said, "Personnel security. Now this is important guys. Has any of you had anybody solicit you? Ask you to go somewhere?"

Bob shrugged. "I pretty much never leave the tower. Steel City is fucking boring."

"At least you're not in the woods," Dave said, "Nature hikes aren't really my thing."

"Sam?" Monica asked.

Sam shrugged his muscular shoulders. Damn he was in good shape.

"Pantha never lets me go anywhere by myself."

"She's probably hot for your bod," Dave smirked.

"Dana?"

Dana leaned on one hand and looked bored. "Metropolis is like one of the safest cities. No issues here."

Monica nodded again. "What about you, Mark?"

"Someone tried to spike my drink last week," I replied, "But... nothing really happened."

"I would totally spike Argent's tea if I thought it would get me somewhere," Dave said before finishing his root beer and opening another.

"Yeah, it would get you prison time," I countered, "if it didn't get you dead first."

"That must be the only way you get laid," Dana said, popping another bubble, "assuming you'd know what to do with it."

"Oh don't you worry about that, baby," Dave smirked.

Monica frowned. "Yeah, hey, I know that whole 'professionalism' thing eludes some of you knuckleheads, but try to remember that sexual assault is still illegal."

"Hey Monica," I started, "Why are we at risk anyway?"

"Until the go-live date next month, any one of us pretty much represents direct access into the JLU's super secure network. All anyone would need would be any one of our accounts to get super-user access." She looked hard at the camera. "Until the security encryption is decentralized, we are the door keepers into some of the largest law enforcement databases and prediction models in the world. The only other people with that level of access right now are senior JLU and Titan team leaders. But they have the extra advantage of being meta or at the very least, far better trained than any of us engineering nerds."

I gulped. I hadn't even considered the possibility that that was the reason anyone was interested in kidnapping me.

"What about you, Moni?" Bob asked, "Are you secure there?"

Monica arched an eyebrow at the camera. "Are you kidding? The Watchtower is probably the most secure site on or off planet. I have no reason to ever leave here. Also, you should see this place. They practically have their own food court and the rec center is just insanity." She flashed a grin. "Some of the most powerful of the JLU also hang out here a lot. You haven't seen anything until you see Superman's buns of steel in person!"

"Yeah, I'm sure Superman could crack walnuts with those buns of steel," Bob said sarcastically.

"Well, he is Superman," Dave countered, "dude could probably uproot trees with his ass of steel."

"Hey," I interjected, "I'm gonna email you all a little app I whipped up called Mayday."

"Mayday," Monica asked, "What's it supposed to do?"

"I wrote this thing in college," I replied, "You need to basically check in with a helper app once a day, otherwise it changes all your passwords to randomized encrypted hash strings."

"So... it locks you out," Dana said.

"Yup."

"Why the hell would we want to use this?" Dave demanded.

"In the event of a kidnapping, it will protect your access," I said, "so nobody can force you to allow them in with your account."

"I like this idea," Monica said, "Y'all install it and use it. Since I'm the technical HBIC, I'm gonna make this policy."

"HBIC?" Sam asked.

"Head. Bitch. In. Charge." Monica replied, glaring into the camera. It seemed like she was daring one of us to argue with her. "Also, since I'm in the most secure location, I'm not gonna use it."

"Why do we have to use it but you don't?" Bob whined.

"Because I'm in the Watchtower and I got heroes like the Martian Manhunter to watch my ass. And I can guarantee at least a few of you assholes will fuck up and need me to unlock your account."

Monica settled back in her chair. "Besides, it's only temporary. We go live at the beginning of next month. At that point account access privileges will be segmented and tiered amongst the large bunch of support staff JLU is bringing onboard. So suck it up for three more weeks and stay safe. Meeting adjourned till next week. See ya suckas."

With that, the rest of the video feeds in the conference cut out and I logged out of the webconf.

I installed and configured my security app and wrote up a set of instructions for the rest of the managers before emailing it off. The Mayday app itself lived on my system here, but the helper app, Check-in, rode shotgun on my phone. I set the check-in time for 11:30am daily. I figured I wouldn't forget, also the app reminds you to check in.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. Then Cyborg came into my office and I spent the next two hours going over the upcoming operations required for the JLU cloud to go live.

* * *

 _My companions and I entered the dark abyss. The stairs led in a square formation heading down into the blackened depths of the entryway. The bottom of the cave was pitch dark and hard to see._

 _As we approached the bottom, Hrothgar stopped._

 _"I hear something," he said, "we're not alone."_

 _From the depths came a many headed hydra. The roar that sounded forth from its many heads was deafening, but I managed to keep my wits about me. Summoning the power of Agoth, I cast a mighty fireball at the body of the hydra and it screamed in agony. Then all eight heads focused upon me. Their mouths opened and a blast of ice issued forth..._

I heard Cyborg roll the dice more than once. In fact, it sounded like he was rolling a LOT of dice. He looked up at me from behind the game master's screen.

"Your wizard Mort takes 84 points of ice damage."

I tossed my sheet down on the table.

"Well fuck me sideways," I said, "I'm dead."

Robin looked through his character sheets. "Not necessarily. I have a restoration spell. I can use that to resurrect you."

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "We still gotta take this thing down and Mort was our artillery!"

I listened idly and checked my phone while the remaining party members plotted their strategy. After an hour of arguing and fancy imaginative footwork, they killed the hydra. However Robin's second character Gwen was also dead.

"Fuck," Robin hissed, "We totally screwed the pooch on this thing. We should have approached it differently."

"Shoulda, coulda, woulda, didn't," I grumbled.

Robin rubbed the back of his head. "Well, the good news is we do have enough gold to get either Gwen or Mort resurrected. But only one. The other one is gonna have to be resurrected with my custom cantrip."

"What about the restoration spell?" I asked.

"Had to use it within the same round, so it's too late."

"So, we gotta go back to town, don't we?" Beast Boy muttered.

"Yup."

Cyborg looked at us. "So ya'll going to return to Cauldron?"

"Have no choice," Robin replied, "We need to purchase the spell components."

"Ok, so you sling your dead over your horses and begin the two-day journey back to Cauldron."

"If you do not mind me asking, friends," a feminine voice rang out from the kitchen, "but what is this ritual?"

I glanced over at the kitchen area. Starfire floated near the entrance, her head cocked as she observed us play. A curious expression was on her exquisite face. Behind her at the counter was Raven. The dark Titan sat with a thick leather-bound book open. Though her hood was up, she was also watching us.

"It's called Caverns & Monsters, Star," Robin said with a warm smile, "It's a table-top RPG."

Starfire floated over and gently embraced the Titan's leader from behind while looking at his character sheets on the table.

"This seems most interesting," Starfire murmured. She looked up at the super screen across the room where the map of our battle was displayed. "And this is the land in which you fought?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy answered, "And we just fought a hydra and had two of our characters die!"

"Ohh!" Starfire exclaimed, "It is similar to a game of the imagination that I used to play on Tamaran called Blorpnak!"

Cyborg arched his single eyebrow. "Blorpnak?"

"Indeed! We would create artificial or idealized versions of ourselves upon the holo-table and then decide our actions with a roll of the gridniks!" Starfire clapped her hands together. "Oh I loved to play Blorpnak! Could I join your game?"

Robin looked at Cyborg who shrugged. The half-metal man took out a tablet and handed it to the enthusiastic alien.

"Here Star," Cyborg said, "This has the player's guide. You're gonna need to read through it in order to understand how the game works and how to create characters."

Starfire took the tablet with a look of glee on her face. "Glorious! I shall read through this immediately and join you on your next session!"

I looked back over to Raven.

"Do you want that book too?" I asked, "It would be awesome if you joined in!"

"I don't do RPGs," Raven responded dryly.

"Friend Raven," Starfire said as she swooped over to the dark Titan, "you simply must join as well! It will be most wonderful!" Starfire fixed Raven with her big beautiful green eyes widened. "Please?"

Raven sighed and closed her book. "Fine, but I hate reading stuff on tablets."

I stood up, grabbed my hardcover player's guide, and then walked over to the counter where Raven sat.

"You can borrow mine," I said with a smile.

"You guys are such gigantic nerds," Raven stated. I could see a hint of her small smile from beneath her hood.

"You know," I began softly, "If you want, we could go over the handbook together tomorrow night... if you're not busy of course." I gave her what I hoped was a harmless smile.

Raven moved her leather-bound book aside and slid the player's guide over. She opened it up to the table of contents.

"I can probably finish this off in an afternoon," she responded, "I doubt I'd need your help to go over it. This already looks like stereo instructions for how to not have a social life."

"Oh, well... now I feel like a total loser."

"If that's how you feel, there isn't much I can do about it," Raven said. She looked back at me from under her hood and I saw her amethyst eyes twinkle a little. "Personally I thought it would've been more fun to just watch a movie together, but if you want to go over this nerd-lore..."

"Nope," I said quickly, "Movie is fine. More than fine. Movie would be awesome." I cocked my head. "You know, we could also just go out..."

Raven shook her head. "You're confined to the Tower until May 5th, remember? Security protocol until your clown network is up."

"You mean the 'cloud' network?"

"Whatever."

Robin called out from the table, "We still don't know who tried to kidnap you, Mark. But JLU thinks it might be related to the new cloud network and I agree with them. So suck it up."

"Yeah," I muttered, "All the other DCMs are in lockdown too."

I started to turn back to Raven. When I noticed Beast Boy just staring off into space, his mouth half open and his tongue hanging out. A sliver of drool was starting to drip down his chin.

"Is BB alright?" I asked, concerned.

Raven glanced at the changeling. "Yup. He gets like that when he's bored."

Beast Boy suddenly shook his head, sending drool flying. He banged his fists down on the table. "DUDES! Are we gonna play more or what?"

* * *

Friday night at 7pm, Raven showed up at my door. Instead of her usual uniform she wore some sweatpants and a shapeless sweater. Privately, I was extremely disappointed as I loved looking at her in her uniform. Then I mercilessly crushed that disappointment down since I realized she could sense my feeling. Then I felt anxious and wondered if she had already sensed what I had been feeling.

 _She can't read minds right?_

Raven watched my face with some amusement in her eyes.

"You're wondering if I can read your mind."

My eyes widened. _Dammit! She can read minds!_

"Now you're thinking that I just read your mind."

My mouth fell open and I started to stammer. "W-wait a minute...!"

Raven stepped past me into my room. "No, I can't really read your mind. But you're face is extremely expressive."

She clasped her hands behind her back and turned to face me. "However I did sense some disappointment. I'm guessing you'd have preferred me in uniform?"

I started to stammer again, but Raven cut me off.

"I will admit that there is a level of creepiness to that," she said, "but I have to wonder what it is about my uniform that you like?"

I mumbled something.

"What's that?"

I mumbled again, feeling my face get hot.

"Big sis can't hear you."

"I like your legs, Ok?" My eyes widened as I realized I blurted that out.

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. "I see." She stepped closer to me and stared into my eyes.

"What's so interesting about my legs, hmm?"

"You have the most amazing legs," I babbled, "They're long and sensual and lean with sexy muscle. You should just change your name to Lady Legasus and kick bad guys to death with those legs." I blinked. "Did I said that out loud?"

"You need to work on your inner monologue," Raven agreed.

We were quiet for a moment. I quickly checked outside my door to make sure no other Titans were listening, then I closed my door.

Raven sat down on the couch I had in my little entertainment center. Compared to her room upstairs, my room was a bit smaller, but my new large tv dominated the far wall, so I put a small couch in front of it with an ottoman for a footrest.

"I've noticed you staring at my legs before," Raven commented.

I put my head in my hands. "Ugh, so I was creeping you out before?"

"Not really, but your face was amusing whenever I caught you looking."

I looked back at Raven and saw she had her small smile up. An LOL, Raven style.

"So what movie are we watching tonight?" she asked.

Melvin sauntered up to Raven and sniffed at her foot. Then he rubbed himself against her shin. Raven reached down and gave him some scratches.

"It's called 'Dawn of the Walking Zombies'," I said, "It's a classic, but it's still great."

I sat down on the couch next to her. Even in sweatpants and sweatshirt, Raven seemed calm, in control, perfectly poised, and simply elegant. It amazed me how she seemed to pull off any look without much effort. Raven even looked adorable in that frumpy outfit. She glanced back at me from Melvin and raised her eyebrows.

"You're staring again," she said, "and my legs aren't even exposed."

"As hokey as it sounds," I admitted, "I'm always just stunned by how good you look."

"You really know how to lay it on thick."

"I'm just saying it like it is."

"Now I'm almost tempted to go put my uniform back on." Raven arched an eyebrow at my eager expression. "Easy tiger. I said 'ALMOST.'"

Raven cocked her head. "You know it's funny," she commented, "but a few years back I read a magazine article that criticized Starfire and me saying our costumes were too 'revealing' and overly 'sexualized.'" She made air quotes as she said this. "But I didn't get it back then. I actually found that article to be extremely short-sighted and ignorant. Starfire's costume is standard wear for a Tamaranean. You should have see the skimpy outfits the other Tamaraneans were wearing when we visited there."

"Really?"

"Yup. The whole thigh-high boots and bare midriff thing is contemporary fashion for both men and women on Tamaran."

I briefly envisioned some muscular orange dude with fiery green eyes wearing an outfit like Starfire's. It made me shudder.

"Yeah, I don't wanna see that at all. But what about your costume, Lady Lega- uh, I mean Raven?"

Raven smirked. "My costume is actually common clothing for women in Azarath, though I preferred the darker colors. It really didn't matter much since it was customary to wear a cloak that came down to our ankles. I used to hear some of my teachers whisper about a few people who supposedly wore nothing under their cloak."

I blinked at that. "So what you're saying is that what everyone else considers to be your costume/uniform, is actually just everyday wear from Azarath? And that's also true for Starfire?"

"Yes. I didn't really see my clothes as being anything else but regular wear. Same for Starfire. I guess that's why we pretty much wore them all the time."

I shook my head. "We live in such a repressed culture in this country."

Raven shrugged. "Eh, I've only recently found that I like wearing stuff like this. It's actually more comfortable."

"Doesn't ride up like a leotard, huh?" I said with a cheeky smile.

Raven arched her eyebrow again. "I've never had that problem. Ever."

"Really? How did you keep it from happening?"

"That's a secret."

 _We're totally flirting with each other,_ I thought with glee. Then I narrowed my eyes at her. _She still can't read my mind, right?_

"That reminds me," I said, "where are the rest of the Titans tonight? Do they know we're here in my room together... alone?"

Raven raised both her eyebrows at me. "Robin and Star are on a date. Cyborg is also actually out seeing his girlfriend. And Beast Boy..." she paused for a moment, looking around the room, then seemed to relax a bit. "He's up in his room... on his laptop."

"I kind of wish Beast Boy was able to meet a girl that wasn't just online," I said somberly, "he's such a good guy, you know?"

"He did once have a girl he liked."

"Really? What happened?"

Raven eyes grew slightly distant. "Might be better if you ask him directly about that."

I started up the movie and we settled in to watch it. It certainly was a classic. Not anywhere near as scary as the Wicked Scary movie series, but it wasn't too bad. When it was over, I surprised her with a cup of chamomile tea that I brewed up with my coffee maker.

As she sat sipping the hot tea, I wondered what it would be like to cuddle up to her. Raven certainly didn't strike me as the cuddle type. She did certainly seem relaxed and contemplative as she gazed out my window to the city beyond the water. The lights in the dark night made Jump City seem to glow like an otherworldly haven. I sat back and relaxed, stretching my legs and basking in her presence.

"Three years ago, Robin said I had my whole life ahead of me now," Raven suddenly murmured, "I thought I understood what he meant at the time, but the reality didn't hit me until the next day."

I cocked my head. Being unsure as to why Robin had said something like that to her, I decided to ask.

"Did you almost die or something? I mean, that's a bit of a weird thing to tell someone without any context. Of course you have your whole life ahead of you."

"It was after Trigon." Raven looked at my face, her eyes seeming to glimmer with some sort of emotion. "I had spent the first sixteen years of my life being prepared to sacrifice myself. To be a portal to this dimension for... him. That was the whole reason he sired me on my mother, to give him a focused gateway through which he could pass.

I tried to avoid that fate, but in the end I couldn't. Trigon entered this dimension through me and laid waste to the world, and my body was nearly destroyed in the process."

I blinked. "Wow."

"When everything was over and Trigon gone, that's when Robin said that to me," Raven looked back out the window, "and he was absolutely right. From that time forward, every day seemed brighter, the colors around me more vivid, the music I listen to sounds sweeter than it ever did, and the people I meet and know are even more amazing and wonderful to me."

"That certainly doesn't sound very goth-like."

"Oh, I still like dark things. Darkness will always be my true haven. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate beauty and light. When you unexpectedly survive the end of the world, everything just tastes better."

I could see it then. The real inner beauty of the young woman known as Raven. Despite her darkness, her face simply shone with an inner light that spoke of wondrous hope and a deep appreciation for the very life that flowed in her body. I could feel myself falling for her all over again.

"Beautiful," I murmured, gazing at Raven's face.

The dark Titan arched an elegant eyebrow at me. "Pardon?"

I coughed as I realized I had been staring again.

"I-I mean, that's really, uh, philosophical!"

Raven watched me for a moment longer.

"You know, I do notice when you stare at me. I saw you do it during the movie as well. It makes me wonder what it is you're staring at. Do I look weird or something?" She straightened out on the couch and stretched her legs. "It certainly isn't just my legs, since you can't really see them right now."

I sighted, feeling caught.

"I told you before that when I first saw you five years ago on the web, I thought you looked distant and alone. Isolated, even lonely."

Raven nodded. "Go on."

I decided to go for broke. "There's no point in trying to hide my feelings for you. You're an empath. I probably was streaming lovey-dovey stuff when you first met me."

"I wouldn't call it 'streaming' per se..."

"Anyway, yeah, I fell for you pretty hard," I said, "then I tried to let go of those feelings when I went to college."

I scratched the back of my head. "For the record, this feels extremely weird to talk about this kind of thing. Pretty awkward, actually. I got totally freaked out when I realized you were an empath and I was pretty much broadcasting this creepy 'I-love-you' signal at you."

Raven shrugged. "There isn't really any precedent for me to work with, so I'm making things up as I go. With that roofie incident, it sort of feels like we skipped a bunch of steps that should have been taken prior to sleeping together."

I felt my face grow hot. "ANYWAY, I dated that Japanese goth chick in college because she reminded me a lot about you."

"A Japanese goth-girl reminded you of me?"

I nodded. "Her look was similar to yours, though she didn't wear the leotard and cloak. She was into chakras though, and she wore a bindi jewel on her forehead."

I sat for a moment, remembering. "She did have a propensity for wearing her hair in pig-tails, but when she wore it down it was similar to your hairstyle."

Raven visibly shuddered. "Ugh, don't remind me about pig-tails."

I blinked. "Did you used to wear pig-tails or something?"

"No... um... Let's just say it was a bad run-in with a super-villain and leave it at that." Raven paused for a second. "Also I really hate pie now."

"Well, I bet you'd be all kinds of adorable with pig-tails," I teased.

"And I bet you'd be all kinds of adorable with your dick hanging from your chin," Raven replied flatly.

"Completely dropping the whole pig-tails thing right now."

I fell silent for a minute.

"I do have to ask," I finally said, "how did you know that roofies would affect you like that?"

Raven mused for a moment before responding.

"Because it happened before."

I blinked.

"Really?"

"Last year when I was still dating Eric-"

"Who?" I interrupted.

"Eric... he's that goth guy I told you about. Anyway, he and I had gone to this club called 'Empty.'"

I blinked again. "Empty?"

"It's a comment on life and its meaning in terms of..." Raven sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter. We went there and we were hanging out. Someone roofied my drink. It could have been Eric, but I don't think it was. I was still underage, so I was only drinking a ginger-ale, but someone slipped a Rohpynol into it. It was really hard to tell who did it since everyone in the club was drowning me in depressed emotion."

Raven paused, and her face turned slightly red.

"When I started feeling the effects, I ran to the bathroom. And then I ported back to my room."

"So... what happened to Eric?"

"Nothing. I ditched him."

I fought down a smirk. "So instead of getting the night of his life, you ditched him at a goth club called 'Empty.'" I cocked my head. "So why did you take me back with you?"

Raven frowned a bit at me.

"If you haven't figured that out, you're dumber than I thought."

I felt my heart skip a beat.

"...because you like me?"

"Maybe you aren't so dumb after all."

I felt a stupid grin spread across my face, and Raven rolled her eyes.

"Enough," she said, "If I get any more embarrassed I'm going to start blowing things up."

"Ok," I responded, wiping the grin off my face. "So how did you figure out you were roofied?"

"I went back to Empty the next day and asked around. I was a bit mystified as to my reaction and I had no idea what had caused it. Turned out that at least a few other girls had also been roofied and two of them were raped." Raven's face went dark and her eyes flashed dangerously. "The worst part was that they were even younger than me.

Anyway, I looked up the base components of Rohpynol and saw that it has no natural elements in its manufacture. I borrowed the chemical analyzer and examined my blood and found traces. I really had to get down and dirty and examine the molecular structure and that's when I found that it is very much like an alchemical substance that is used by demons to provoke mating urges."

I blinked. "Wow, so demons would use that stuff?"

Raven shrugged. "I don't know many demons outside of my family tree. Also, the book I found it in was really old."

I gazed at her in admiration. Then feeling cheeky, I asked.

"So what did you do about the mating urges when you went back to the Tower that night?"

Raven gave me a glare. "If you have to ask that, the chances of you ever seeing the inside of my room again have just dropped to zero."

"Forget I asked!" I said quickly, "So why didn't you tell the other Titans about what happened?"

"I told Star about it," Raven responded, "I was too embarrassed to tell the boys. I helped the police out with their investigation and they arrested at least two guys that had been selling the stuff. The guys who had raped those girls were arrested and prosecuted too. They were lucky the cops got to them before I did."

I shivered at that.

Melvin jumped up on Raven's lap and he curled up and settled in. I stared at him for a moment, feeling envious. Raven smiled her small smile and scratched Melvin's head as he purred.

"I think Melvin isn't afraid of half-demons," Raven said, still scratching Melvin.

"Melvin is just really good and finding good people," I responded, "although he's also good at finding people with severe cat allergies too."

I looked up at Raven's face.

"Can you tell me about Azarath?" I asked.

Raven blinked at me. "Why do you want to know about Azarath?"

"Because I'd like to know more about you, where you came from."

Raven was quiet for a moment. "Azarath is... well, it will always be home in some manner. The city rests upon a massive floating plateau, with soaring golden red walls that would gleam in the sunlight. The wind... " she smiled wistfully, "the wind was gentle and smelled like many of the gardens people maintained within the city."

Raven's amethyst eyes seemed to gaze upon her home.

"I studied at the Temple of Azar. When the council realized who I was and what I was destined to become, they convinced my mother to let Azar herself teach me. I spent many hours meditating within the Great White Circle in the Temple. It was Azar who taught me how to control my powers."

Raven fell silent, remembering things only she could remember.

"It sounds beautiful," I said softly, "I wish I could see it."

"I thought I lost Azarath once," Raven said, "when Trigon came, but Azarath was restored when Trigon fell."

"I just grew up in Dorchester, in Boston," I stated, "It always stank of the city, people were surly assholes ready to pick a fight. It kind of sucked. I was glad to get out of there when I went to college." I looked at the dark Titan again. "What made you decide to leave Azarath?"

Raven's face darkened. "My father. Trigon. When I turned fourteen, I tried to confront Trigon in Limbo. It didn't turn out the way I would have wanted. So I ended up fleeing to Earth because I didn't want anything to happen to Azarath. I also kind of hoped I could escape my destiny as a portal."

Raven looked at me, her face softening slightly. "I have absolutely no idea why I'm telling you all this."

"Because I'm listening?"

She looked at my face for a moment longer before continuing.

"Maybe that's it," she murmured, "I loved Azarath very much, but I felt I needed to leave to keep it safe. Then I had the same crisis of conscience when I turned sixteen and wanted to leave here to protect Earth and my friends."

Raven drew her legs up and curled them under herself, so as not to disturn Melvin.

"You probably wouldn't remember what happened," she said, "nobody in the world, aside from the Teen Titans, would remember what happened when Trigon came. When he laid the earth to waste, all living things turned to stone. When he was vanquished, everything returned to the way it was and nobody was the wiser."

"So how did the Teen Titans defeat Trigon?"

"They didn't. I regained my power and destroyed him."

I blinked.

"Wow! So you smoked your own father?"

Raven gave me a wistful look.

"Someday, I'm gonna write all this down. Create a series of books about our adventures. There's just so much that's happened in the last five years, and most people barely know the half of it."

Raven stood up from the couch and stretched, letting Melvin jump off and glare up at her. She glanced at my clock.

"It's definitely late," she said, "I should get to bed. Unlike you, the rest of the team trains pretty hard in the morning."

I stood up as well. "Raven, thanks for the movie night and thanks for talking with me."

Raven spread her hands and a black portal opened. She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and then motioned for me to come closer.

"There is one more thing I want to tell you before I go," she said quietly.

I leaned over. "What's that?"

Raven kissed me gently on the cheek. "Just that."

"I don't think I heard you," I murmured, "can you just repeat that?"

I moved in to kiss her on the lips when I was stopped by her finger on my mouth. Raven gently shook her head, then gave me her small smile.

"Good night, Mark." Then she disappeared into her portal and it vanished.

I sighed and looked down at Melvin who decided to pick that moment to clean himself.

"You lucky little shit."

* * *

Raven stood quietly in the dark sanctity of her room. Her mind was feeling uncharacteristically in turmoil. She moved into her meditation circle and assumed the lotus position.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven softly chanted. She closed her eyes and felt her body levitate up into a rock steady position a foot above the floor.

 _What in the name of Azar had possessed me to kiss him on the cheek like that?_

Raven forced herself to focus and soon achieved the normal mental balance of deep meditation. In her minds eye she floated in lotus in the brightly lit center of her inner mental sanctum. The reflections of her emotional states now resided here in the form of portraits. It was the closest to personification of her emotions she would allow. It was tidy and in one place as opposed to scattered across the landscape of her mind. This small and organized space was now Raven's Nevermore.

Raven lifted one hand and the portraits turned until the one she sought came into focus.

"Love," Raven intoned, "Explain yourself."

The purple-cloaked figure in the portrait suddenly smiled brightly at the dark Titan.

"Oh Raven, it certainly has been a long while!"

Raven arched an eyebrow at the framed emotion.

"You're stalling," Raven said.

Love covered her mouth and giggled. "Well, we so rarely get any opportunity to express ourselves! Why, I was talking to Wisdom the other day about your last real 'date'..."

Raven frowned. "You aren't separate from my psyche any more. There are no informal chats between you."

Love grinned. "Well then! Seeing how you already know us, what's the point of fooling yourself with this arrangement of pictures?"

"How I choose to express you all as my FEELINGS, are entirely my prerogative. Now please explain these feelings for Mark."

The purple-cloaked emotion tapped her mouth with her finger.

"Well, I thought it was obvious that you LIKE this guy. I know that Lust was quite pleased with him. Kind of chubby though, isn't he?"

"I'm well aware that I do like Mark," Raven stated, "What I want to know is WHY I like him."

Love blinked at that. Then she sighed.

"Fine, seeing how there is nothing that I know that you don't already, the real reason you like Mark is because he LISTENS to you. He doesn't want to just hear about Raven the Teen Titan, he wants to hear about Raven the person. He even told you that he wanted to be that kind of person for you. Someone who genuinely listens and tries to understand you."

"Malchior did the same thing."

"Malchior was an illusion," Love said, "he pretended to give a shit and lied to make you feel good about yourself. Deep down you knew Malchior was using you. But you didn't care."

Raven shook her head. "It has to be more than just that. How do I really feel about Mark? Am I just attracted to him because he's attracted to me? This feels so weird and irregular, like something out of an angst-ridden teenage drama or something. I hate angst-ridden teenage dramas." Raven glanced back at Love. "Is this feeling simply because we had sex?"

Love snorted. "Hardly, though the sex was really really good. Especially considering he was barely conscious." The emoticlone's face suddenly changed and became more leering. "He's packing some serious meat for a fat kid though! He definitely made us cum harder than we've ever done on our own!"

"Lust," Raven said through gritted teeth, "I wasn't talking to you."

"Oh come on! You know damned well that me and Love are basically two sides of the same coin!" Lust's leering grin grew wider. "You totally want Mark to come on up here and tuck you into bed! You can't fool me, Rae-Rae! I'm part of you! We share the same brain! Let's call him now!"

"ENOUGH!" Raven's eyes flashed dangerously. "I am NOT calling Mark!"

"So what was with the cheek peck, hmm?" Lust sneered, "He was totally gonna go for it, but you stopped him. Why don't you just let this uptight emotionless dark goth chick facade go already? Give in to me for once when you aren't drugged and I promise you won't regret it!"

Lust pointed to a large viewing screen that appeared floating in front of Raven.

"Seriously, check out these hot memories!" Lust crowed.

The red-tinged memories showed Mark's face beneath her, twisted and moaning and sweating in pleasure-filled abandon. Raven's hands roamed his chest as the image seemed to bounce with a hard intenstity.

"Hehe, you rode him hard and didn't even have the decency to put him away wet!"

Raven waved the memory away. "That was the influence of the Rohypnal."

"Rae-Rae," Lust said, "That may be true, but it was still all you. All that shit did was unleash your beast."

Lust's face morphed back into the more mature expression of Love.

"Raven," Love said, "You took this man back to your room that night because you genuinely like him. You actually enjoyed Mark's company before this happened."

"I already know that."

"Of course you do. Once again, I don't know anything that you don't already know. And the reason you're afraid is because you don't want to lose control of your power."

"I can't afford to lose control. There's too much of a chance of people getting hurt."

"Then find a way," Love said, "Raven, I don't normally speak for absent sisters, but you deserve to be Happy."

Love's face twisted back into Lust. "At the very least, let's just fuck the fat kid's brains out!"

Raven frowned. "I think I'm done communing with my inner selves." she waved her hand and the portrait froze back into the image of Love.

Raven opened her eyes and lowered herself back down into the meditation circle. Communing with her core emotions like that hadn't really told her anything new. She had thought that giving herself some distance from the errant system engineer would allow her to sort through her feelings over the drug-induced sex they had, but it only made her think about him more. Now Raven wasn't entirely sure if it was love or lust or something in between that she felt.

The dark Titan stood up and went to her bathroom to prepare for bed. Having not come to any conclusion, she set the matter aside for the time being and concentrated on the more mundane tasks of flossing and brushing her teeth and then washing her face. Raven rinsed her mouth out and then looked at her face in the mirror. To her eyes, she looked pale grey, wan, not very attractive. Her face seemed overly strict with little softness to blunt her sarcasm when a caustic comment was appropriate.

"I kind of look like a corpse," Raven muttered. She wondered what it was that Mark saw when he looked at her. "Maybe corpses are his thing."

She sighed and took off her sweatshirt and sweatpants, leaving on her sports bra and underwear. Then she looked down at her long pale grey legs.

"Lady Legasus, hmm?" Raven murmured with a smirk.

Raven turned off the lights and crawled into bed, not realizing she still had a small smile on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

_This story has been so much fun to write. I have a pretty good idea how it's going to end, and even maybe an idea for a sequel. Or I might just add it into this story as a different arc or something. Anyway, I'm having lots of fun. Writing dialogue for Raven and Mark has been challenging, but interesting, as everything I write for Raven, I can imagine Tara Strong (Raven's voice actress) sort of saying in Raven's voice. I can't actually imagine Mark's voice. Maybe he sort of sounds like me. Who knows?_

 _There's more action in this chapter though. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, so I may rewrite parts here, but overall I'm pleased with the way things are moving._

 _As always, I want to thank the folks that are following my sordid tale as well as the folks that have kindly reviewed me. I do need more constructive criticism, so please fire away. If I suck, I wanna know about it._

 _ **Standard disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters in this story, except for Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

Saturday morning I found myself in my office, basically just messing around on the web and feeling slightly bored.

"Oh, friend Mark! Do you happen to have a moment?"

I turned from my monitor to look at the graceful Tamaranean that floated in my office door. She had a manila folder in her hands.

"Sure Star, what's up?"

Starfire swooped in and planted herself in one of my guest chairs, then she handed me the folder. I arched my eyebrow at it.

"What's this?"

"It is the character that I have created for the next session of Caverns & Monsters! I was hoping that maybe you could do the looking over of it?"

I opened the folder to look at the contents. There was a lengthy bio on the first page for a character named 'Kori'andr,' a battlemage. The character sheets themselves followed. After a few minutes of reading and looking at stats, I had to admit, I was really impressed. Actually, more than that, I was blown away.

"How did you... wait you can take these feats together? I never even heard of some of these... whoa!"

I looked up into the anxious Tamaranean princess' face.

"H-How did you come up with this?"

Starfire grinned at me. "When I played Blorpnak back on Tamaran, we had a character creation principle called ' _klada-stork_ ,' and I found I was able to apply this principle to this character!"

"' _Klada-stork_?'"

"I believe the English translation would be closest to 'maximizing the minimum?'"

I blinked at her.

"Basically, you min-maxed your character."

"Indeed! I also leveled her up to be appropriate for your campaign!"

I looked back down at the character sheet. It was like the creation of a veteran gamer. I always hated creating characters because I found the process complicated and annoying. So I tended to stick with my veteran creations, or opted for more simplified characters. What Starfire had here was beyond amazing for someone who had just picked up the player's guide only a couple of days before.

"I don't even recognize some of these feats. Where did you find them?"

"Friend cyborg was kind enough to lend me the 'Complete Battlemage Guide' supplementary. It helped me with the _klada-stork_!"

I whistled.

"Star, your character... she's awesome," I said plainly, "Even the name is cool. ' _Kori'andr_.' Is that Tamaranean for something?"

Starfire's grin grew even wider. "It is my real name."

"Wow, really?"

"Yes! ' _Kori_ ' translates to 'star' and ' _andr_ ' means powerful heat or fire."

My mind was blown. I handed the folder back to Starfire.

"Ok, you absolutely have to show this to Cyborg. He'll probably blow a circuit."

Starfire flew up from the guest chair, still grinning.

"Indeed! Thank you for reviewing Kori'andr!"

The Titan alert klaxxon suddenly blared through the Tower. I flinched at the noise. I doubted I'd ever get used to it. Starfire dropped her folder back on my desk.

"Is it alright if I am leaving this here?" she asked, "I do not believe I have time to return to my room."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Glorious!" The orange-skinned alien flashed me her contagious grin. "I shall be back for it once we have returned victorious from battle!"

"Starfire!" I called as she started to leave. She turned back to me with one eyebrow raised in question. "Um... make sure you guys stay safe, ok?"

Starfire's smile turned warm. "Indeed we will! Thank you, friend Mark!" Then she was gone.

I felt the rumble of the garage far below, then there was silence. I turned back to my monitor, wondering what Raven was doing, when a green cat leaped onto my desk and startled the ever-loving shit out of me.

"FUCK!" I yelled, my heart racing.

The cat transformed into Beast Boy. I have to admit that seeing him change forms was something amazing to look at. It seemed like his body would just instantly grow or shrink into whatever animal he was becoming. He sat on the edge of my desk, pointing at me and laughing.

"Dude! You totally should have seen your face!"

"The fuck, dude?" I glared at him. Then I cocked my head. "Wait, why are you here? Wasn't there an alert?"

"Yeah, but I'm on Mark duty."

"'Mark duty?'"

"Yup," Beast Boy said, "Robin doesn't want you to be in the Tower by yourself right now. So we're like on a rotation for when alerts come in. To like protect you or something."

"Ah, ok then." I turned back to my monitor and opened up some documentation I was behind on. I was still a little peeved at the changeling for startling me.

Beast Boy dropped into the guest chair and leaned it back until it was balancing on the rear legs. Then he rolled it forward to balance on the front legs. After about ten minutes of rocking the chair around and fidgeting, he finally rested his chin on the edge of my desk and looked up at me with his big green eyes. He also drooped his ears for effect.

"Mark..." Beast Boy whined, "I'm booored!"

I put on my best Jimmy Peski from GoodGuys. "So what, you 'tink I'm here to amuse you? You 'tink I'm funny or sumthin'?"

"Come on, dude," Beast Boy's eyes lit up. "You wanna go play some Gamestation?"

I sighed. "Fine, let's play some Super Monkey Ninja so I can kick your ass."

I stood up and grabbed my phone. Then I followed the green changeling up to the main ops room where we fired up the Gamestation on the super screen, which I had to admit, looked damned impressive on the big display that dominated the window.

"Now you gonna get schooled, foo!" Beast Boy crowed as he grabbed a controller.

"Oh yeah? Well, when I beat your ass, you can go make me a steak sammich!" I returned.

Super Ninja Monkeys is a fighting game, to the uninitiated. I won the first round, then Beast Boy busted out a bunch of finishing moves and proceeded to mop the screen with my ass.

"Best two out of three," I grumbled as the green changeling taunted me.

"Oh yeah, oh yeah, go Beast Boy, go Beast Boy!" he sang, doing a victory dance after his third win. Then a weird noise stopped us both.

Several holes opened up in the glass around the display as small cylindrical objects punched through and landed around the room. I stared at them stupidly before realizing they were expelling gas. A lot of gas.

Beast Boy grabbed me and threw me to the floor as the windows shattered and the display exploded inward with armored figures swinging in like a SWAT team. Without missing a beat, Beast Boy transformed into a roaring gorilla and grabbed the nearest armored attacker, throwing him into the others. Then he transformed back and grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet and running for the elevator.

"Mark, get down to the datacenter and lock yourself in!" Beast Boy yelled at me. His face had changed. Beast Boy had always seemed to be the most easygoing and relaxed of the Titans. He was the trickster, the comedian, the little dude with all the yucks. That was the first time I saw the hero in him that made him a Teen Titan. He was all business.

I wasn't going to argue with him. I ran for the elevator door. I heard what sounded like a loud 'THOOP' and a small object bounced off the elevator door and rolled in front of me. Beast Boy grabbed me again and tossed me to the floor in front of him. He transformed into an elephant and shielded me from the concussion grenade explosion. Beast Boy changed back and pulled me to my feet again.

"Hallway!" Beast Boy yelled. Then the power suddenly cut off, throwing the windowless parts of the Tower into darkness. We ran out into the hallway. The noise of booted feet was coming from down the hall and then armored soldiers spilled out of the stairwell.

Beast Boy changed into some kind of sasquatch and roared. He ripped a steel panel from the wall and hurled it down the hall knocking over soldiers like candlepins. The remaining soldiers began to fire their assault weapons. Beast Boy dragged me back into the main hall. The changeling morphed into a gorilla again and looped an arm around my waist. Then he jumped up and climbed to the top floor balcony that overlooked the operations room.

"We gotta get to the roof!" Beast Boy shouted to me, "I can carry you to the city that way!"

Below us, we could hear shouting.

"What about the communicator?" I asked desperately, "Can you signal the others?"

Beast Boy looked at his communicator, then pulled out his phone. He dropped them both on the floor. "They're both dead, bro."

I looked at my own phone and realized he was right. My phone was a brick.

 _What could do this?_ I wondered, as we ran for the rooftop, _EMP, maybe? Are those real?_

Beast Boy started to open the heavy steel door to the roof when the rapid sounds of gunfire bounced off the door.

"Shit!" he snarled. He looked at me. "Ok, this is what we're going to do. You're gonna ride on my back. I'm gonna rip the door off and shield us from whoever is shooting. Then we are gonna jump off the roof!"

"Jump off the roof?" I stared at him. "Seriously? That's the plan?"

"Hello! Beast Boy here! I can change into animals at will!"

"I love this plan!" I shouted. He changed into his gorilla form and I scrambled onto his back. Then he ripped the door from the hinges and roared as we charged out onto the roof. I heard multiple gunshots ricochet from the front of the door, then Beast Boy stopped. He dropped the door and changed back to himself, causing me to fall from his back. Then he looked at me with a surprised expression on his face. There were several darts sticking out of his legs. He collapsed forward and fell onto his face, unmoving.

"Beast Boy!" I cried. I tried to grab him, but several rough hands pulled me back and yanked me to my feet. A large man in yellow and black armor walked towards me. He wore a yellow mask and had a big yellow H on his chest, surrounded by black. On his arm was a shield similar to the H insignia on his chest.

"Hi!" the man said in a friendly voice, "How you doing? You must be... Mark, right?"

I stared at him dumbly for a second.

"Yeah, I get it," The man continued, "This is all pretty surprising and stuff. My name is Captain Hive. Me and my team have been hired to pick you up."

"W-hat the holy fuck!" I yelled, "What the fuck do you want? What did you do to Beast Boy?"

"Now now, calm down," Captain Hive said. He put his hand to his hip and drew a handgun. "There's no need for profanity, ya know." He cocked the gun and pointed it at Beast Boy's head. "Now we don't have a lot of time, so here's what's gonna happen. You are gonna come with us. You can come freely, walk to the copter, get onboard smilin' and happy. Or I can shoot this little green stain in the head, then take off one of your kneecaps. Either way it's gonna end up the same way. Your ass on that copter. So whaddya say?"

I stared at him, then I looked around at the black clad figures that surrounded us, all with assault weapons. I could see a helicopter on the pad with the props spinning.

"Ok," I said weakly, "Don't shoot him. I'll come with you."

"I knew you'd see it my way," Hive responded with a smile. Then he shot Beast Boy in the leg.

"You fucking bastard!" I snarled. I lunged at him uselessly against the men holding me in place. "You promised you wouldn't shoot him!"

"I only promised not to shoot him in the head." Hive walked up to me and with a smooth motion, punched me dead center in the face. I felt my glasses and nose break at the same time with an explosion of white hot agony. I fell backwards, but still remained upright against the guys holding me.

"That's for the profanity," Hive said, "You shouldn't fuckin' swear, civvie. It's rude." He followed that up with a punch to my gut. I doubled over his massive fist and vomited my breakfast. My broken glasses fell from my face and landed on the hardtop. My eyes were watering and my head rang from the face shot. I could feel the blood flowing down from my broken nose and the pain in my stomach was blinding.

"Enough of the chit-chat," Hive continued. He nodded to the men holding me. "Let's go."

I felt them dragging me to the helicopter before I passed out from the pain. 

* * *

The four Teen Titans stared at the damage to their home. Glass windows from the seventh floor and up were shattered. Cyborg pounded the wall next to the access panel for the front door.

"The damned power is out. We'll have to pry open the door."

The half-metal Titan turned to Robin. "I don't get it. The UPS systems should have made sure the power stayed on, even if someone had managed to cut the lines from the hydro-generators."

Raven moved past the rest and phased in through the door. Inside she opened another access panel and mentally operated the manual crank that would open the doors. She stood waiting as the other Titans entered.

"We need to be systematic," Robin said, "I doubt there are still enemy combatants here, but there could be traps." He turned to Starfire and Raven. "You two, get on the roof and work your way down. Cyborg and I will start from here and work up. We'll meet in the middle." Robin hesitated for a moment. "Beast Boy and Mark could be injured, or..."

"Don't say it," Raven said sharply. She nodded to Starfire and the two of them left through the door and flew up.

Cyborg's flashlight popped open from his shoulder.

"I don't get what could have done this. The power should be up."

"I guess we'll find out soon," Robin replied. He took out his bo staff and the two of them began to climb the stairs.

Raven and Starfire landed on the roof and looked around. Then Starfire noticed Beast Boy's collapsed form. There was a red puddle forming beneath the changeling. The two of them rushed over.

"He's bleeding out," Raven said. She tore off Beast Boy's pant leg and located the wound in his upper thigh. There was a lot of blood. Too much.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven intoned. She closed her eyes and sent a portion of her soul-self to walk the arteries of Beast Boy's leg. There, just nicking the femoral artery, was the path of the projectile. It appeared to go clean through, exiting the back.

"Star, I need you to apply pressure here while I heal him."

Starfire pressed down on the wound to stop the blood flow as Raven began to heal the artery. After a few moments, Raven sat back with a gasp. Really complex healing took a lot out of her, but the artery was repaired. Beast Boy would live. She tore a strip of cloth from the bottom of her cloak and wrapped it around the wound.

Starfire was uncharacteristically quiet, but Raven could see the look in the Tamaranean's eyes. Pure fury. Starfire was rarely quiet and she very rarely got truly angry, but when she did... she could be terrifying.

Starfire stood up, lifting Beast Boy's limp body in her arms.

"I shall take him to the infirmary."

"Let me make sure there's nobody else here-"

"There is NO ONE here. They have gotten what they have come for."

Raven expanded her empathetic senses to encompass the whole of the Tower. The only emotions she could sense were those of her teammates. Starfire's emotions were burning a dark red and it rolled off her, almost overwhelming Raven. Starfire turned and carried Beast Boy into the rooftop entrance. On foot.

Raven glanced around and saw something that sent her own barely controlled emotions into a tailspin. In a small puddle of blood lay Mark's broken glasses. 

* * *

Cyborg shone his light on the large copper wound device that sat in the center area of the third floor. It had a lot of copper wire wrapped around the center and what appeared to be large-sized capacitors. It sat next to an open electrical panel where it was wired into the Tower's main lead.

"An EMP generator, I presume?" Robin asked, looking at the device.

Cyborg was shaking his head. "I can't believe this fucking thing took out all the electrical systems."

Robin's communicator buzzed. It was Starfire.

"Robin, we have found Beast Boy. I have brought him to the infirmary. He is badly injured." 

* * *

Robin entered the infirmary and looked at the sleeping Beast Boy. Cyborg sat on a stool next to the changeling's bed. He had a plasma drip going into Beast Boy's arm.

"He lost a lot of blood," Cyborg said, "If the girls had found him any later..."

"Raven found Mark's glasses," Robin stated softly, "I know Starfire is burning with her righteous fury, but Raven..."

Robin's train of thought was interrupted by a moan from Beast Boy. The green changeling's emerald eyes opened and he sluggishly looked around the room.

"Robin? Cy?" Beast Boy whispered, "What happened?" He looked around the infirmary, "Where's Mark?"

Robin pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed.

"We can talk about that in a moment. First, how are you feeling?"

Beast Boy gritted his teeth. "Like shit. Feels like I got body checked by a whale." He looked at his bound up leg and winced. "What happened to my leg?"

"You got shot."

"Well... that blows."

"You almost bled out, but Raven healed the worst of it. The bullet just passed right through. You'll recover."

"Awesome." Beast Boy struggled to sit upright. "So now tell me where Mark is."

"Mark is gone. Whoever attacked the Tower took him," Robin replied.

Beast Boy's eyes widened for a moment, then his head and ears drooped.

"I...I'm sorry, Robin," Beast Boy murmured, "I was supposed to protect him, but I totally blew it."

The infirmary door slid open again, admitting Starfire. The Tamaranean princess walked over and took Beast Boy's hand in her own.

"I am sorry this happened, friend Beast Boy," Starfire said quietly. Her eyes still glowed with a furious light, but unshed tears gathered at their corners.

"Yeah... I totally screwed the pooch on this."

"It's not your fault," Robin said firmly.

Cyborg picked up a metal tray and removed a blue dart-like object.

"BB, I found these stuck in your other leg. They're tranq darts. Zookeepers usually keep this type around to take down enraged animals. Whoever took you down used two of these to do it."

"Yeah," Beast Boy grumbled, "Then they shot me with a real bullet." He looked around again. "Where's Raven?" 

* * *

Raven levitated in lotus position near the shattered window that used to be the big room display. On her lap were the broken and bloody glasses. She fought desperately to find her center and control her breathing, but deep in her mind, in her inner sanctum, she could feel Rage screaming and tearing at her picture frame.

 _Let me out!_ Rage cried out into the echoes of Raven's mind. _Let me out and I will find and crush our enemies!_

Loose chunks of debris around the room were slowly floating up, surrounded by a nimbus of black energy.

 _LET ME OUT!_

 _No_.

In her mind's eye, Rage's portrait suddenly had steel bars sprout and enclose it. Rage's scream froze into her picture frame as Raven's steel like control crashed down like a bear trap. Her breathing calmed and became regulated and the floating debris fell back to the floor.

"Raven?" Robin said from behind her, "Are you alright?"

"For now," Raven responded. She lowered her legs, allowing her torn cloak to enclose her once more. Then she turned to face Robin.

"How is Beast Boy?"

"He's awake and upset. He thinks he failed."

"Maybe he did," Raven said tonelessly.

Robin frowned. "You know he did the best he could. None of us expected an assault on the Tower."

Raven raised her hood and gazed out the shattered window.

"Whatever the case may be, he still got hurt and Mark still was kidnapped." She glanced back at Robin. "Obviously Overload was meant to be a distraction. Kind of smart, actually. They managed to fool us again just like they did with Plasmus and Cinderblock."

Robin slammed his fists down on the ruined counter.

"I'm trying my best here, Raven," Robin said angrily, "There's nothing we could have done differently. More people would have gotten hurt if we didn't respond to those calls."

Raven bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, Robin," she said softly, "I'm not blaming you. I'm just... angry, and it feels hard to control. Like I'm balancing on a precipice."

Robin walked over and lay his hand on the dark Titan's shoulder.

"I know Raven. I know you really like Mark."

Raven turned, her mouth already opening to protest, but Robin cut her off.

"Come on, you can't hide it. I know what happened last week was something that shouldn't have happened, but it did. That aside, I can see how you act when Mark is around. You're different. A little less aloof." Robin gave Raven a small smile. "If you two end up in a relationship, I think that would be wonderful."

Raven turned away. "You know I can't afford to feel like that. About anybody. Look at me now. I'm barely controlling my anger."

Robin took his hand away. "But you are controlling it. Raven, I think when you decide you're ready to love someone, you'll find a way to do it."

Raven was silent for a moment. She gazed at the broken glasses in her hand. Then she turned to look at Robin again.

"So now what? How do we find him?"

Robin took out his communicator and dialed up the GPS signal for Mark. It remained stubbornly silent.

"I had planted GPS transmitters in his clothes." Robin said, "But it looks like the EMP generator we found downstairs knocked those out too."

"You really do think of everything, don't you?"

Robin shrugged. "I try. But nobody can consider every possibility." He gazed at his communicator for a moment. "What I will do is contact all the other Titans. Every Tower and every honorary." He looked back up at Raven's hooded eyes. "I swear to you that we will find and rescue Mark."

Raven nodded. "I know we will." She glanced out the window. "He's probably crying and blubbering right now that the Teen Titans are coming to kick his captors collective asses."

Robin blinked. "'Crying and blubbering?'"

A dark portal opened in the floor and Raven sank out of sight before Robin could ask what she meant.

Raven appeared outside the wrecked remains of Mark's door. With a wave, she moved the door out of the way and entered the room. Mark's room was trashed. It looked like the kidnappers had broken into his room and tore it apart, partly in search of Mark himself and partly for whatever twisted reason they had at the time.

"Melvin?" Raven called, "Here kitty kitty. Melvin, are you ok?"

There was a meow and Raven saw Melvin poke his head out from behind the ruins of the couch.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven intoned. The surprised cat was suddenly enveloped in dark energy and lifted up from the floor to find himself nestled in Raven's arms.

"You're gonna stay with me for now, Melvin," Raven said softly, rubbing the cat's head, "Just until your daddy comes home." She arched an eyebrow at the cat. "Try not to get too much fur on my furniture."

* * *

"Good morning, sunshine."

I stirred at the voice. I could feel my consciousness begin to rise back up to reality from the pleasant darkness. Everything hurt. My face hurt, my nose was killing me, my stomach hurt, hell, I'd say my hands were hurting, except I couldn't feel them at all.

I opened my swollen eyes. Without my glasses, everything seemed blurry. I could just make out Captain Hive standing before me. I appeared to be bound to a chair of some sort. It was hard to tell. The room seemed to be a nondescript cinderblock shell with a table nearby and a large metal door. There didn't seem to be any windows, but a single light hung down from the ceiling.

"Sleep well?" Hive asked. I could make out a grin on the exposed lower half of his face.

"...fuckin' cockhole," I mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said 'yeah, I slept well.'"

I could hear voices coming from outside the room. The heavy steel door opened and in walked a diminutive dude in a green jumper. Next to him was a weird looking chick with pink hair shaped like horns. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at her. Oh yeah, all gothic lolita and shit. She was pale and her eyes were like pink cat's eyes.

"You fuckin' scuzz-ball pit-sniffer!" the little guy growled at Hive. "I needed this guy last week! Now I don't need this loser at all!"

"They told me to bring you whatever you needed," Hive said simply, "So I brought you him. If you don't need him, then I'll just pop a bullet in his head and dump him in the ocean."

The little guy's eyes went wide. He held up his hands in a placating manner.

"Well, since you brought him, I'm sure I can make some use of him! No need to frackin' kill him." he turned to squint back at me. "Do you know who I am?"

"Fuuck no," I slurred.

"I'm Gizmo. This is Jinx." Gizmo glanced up at Captain Hive who stood calmly with his arms crossed. "You already know this scuzz-face."

"Yeah, we met."

"Great. Now that we all know each other's fuckin' names, let's get down to business." Gizmo pulled up a chair and sat down facing me. "Basically, we want to get access into JLU's cloud."

"The fuck do you think I can do for you?" I growled.

"You're an admin. You got access. You also know how it's put together, access points, network maps, routing, vpn encryption. Basically all the crap that can get us a back door."

"That's very optimistic of you," I returned, "Do you happen to know what the time is?"

Gizmo glanced at Jinx, then looked at his watch. "It's 2:30."

"Great! So it's way past 'go-fuck-yourselves-o'clock!'" I crowed with a bloody smile, "My network access is locked out now! In short, I can't fucking help you."

Gizmo waved his hand. "Yeah yeah, I already know about your gay little check-in app."

I blinked. This wasn't the reaction I had been expecting.

Gizmo sighed. "Look, last week all we wanted to do was get you drugged up and then have a freakin' gab session with you. You'd have totally forgotten it. But that skeez-ball pit-licker witch-Titan figured it out and got you out of there!"

I blinked again. "And now I'm here."

"And now you're here."

"How did you know about the Mayday app?" I asked.

"You think I'd fuckin' tell you, jizz-breath?" Gizmo growled, "I have my ways!"

"We're totally wasting time here." I heard the pink goth-loli say. "The hell did you think you'd get out of this loser anyway?"

Gizmo took a deep breath. The as calmly as he could, he began to speak again.

"If this was last week, I'd have gotten plenty out of him and nobody would have been the wiser!"

He turned back to me.

"Turdface, I want network designs, subnet info, vpn info, locations of all the vpn repeaters, routing, every frigging thing you've had stuffed into your dick-shaped head for the last month!"

"What good will that do without his admin access?" Hive asked.

"I DON'T NEED HIS FUCKIN' ACCESS!" Gizmo yelled, "I CAN FUCKIN' BREAK IN MYSELF!"

"Look, babyface," I said through gritted teeth, "It really doesn't matter what info I give you. As soon as the other managers in JLU realized I've been kidnapped, they will make major changes to the network access points, change and refresh all encryption keys, move hardware around, basically every thing I could possibly know will be useless within a matter of hours. In fact, I'm sure this is already happening."

I took a deep breath.

"Furthermore, even if they don't, I FUCKING DESIGNED THE NETWORK SECURITY. I studied in an accredited university all the ways to thwart script kiddies like you. I'm a certified white-hat who has played in the dark enough to know where most of the bodies are buried in any network! Because THAT'S what I do! That's what I know! Guys like me, we're your worst nightmare! You won't ever get into our shit! You wanna know why? BECAUSE I'M THE FUCKING IT GUY!"

The silence that followed was deafening. After a moment, Hive spoke.

"Feel better now that you got that off your chest?"

"Actually yeah, I do."

"Good." Hive's fist connected with my jaw and sent me and my chair sprawling. I briefly saw stars as I hit the floor. Then his boot started slamming into my ribs.

"Nobody," _KICK_ , "Gives a fuck," _KICK_ , "about your opinions." _KICK_.

Hive reached down and grabbed my face, lifting me and my chair back upright. My ribs were in agony and I was sure they were cracked. He knelt in front of me and gripped my jaw.

"Now, how about you answer the little man's questions, hmm?"

I spat blood into his face. "How about you go eat a dick sandwich, you yellow-topped cock holster."

Hive's eyes went cold, like a couple of freezing glaciers in his head. He wiped the blood from his mask.

"You two, get the fuck out."

"Hey scuzz-face! You don't frackin' give me orders-"

"GET. OUT."

Gizmo and Jinx looked at each other, then they turned to go. At the door, Gizmo stopped and looked back at Hive.

"I still can use him, asshole. If you kill him or work him over to the point of uselessness, I'll make sure you'll regret it."

The door shut, leaving just me and the captain.

"You must think I'm just not a very nice guy," Hive said to me, "but the truth is, I'm actually quite the opposite. I just hate chubby civvies like you. And when I hate something, I feel the urge to really really hurt it."

At that point, my treacherous bladder chose to let go and I wet myself and washed away every last bit of pride I had left.

Hive looked at the puddle forming under my chair and grinned.

"Good, you're scared," he said. He stood up. "You should be scared. Because you're a fucking bunny rabbit in a world of vicious dogs." He cracked his knuckles. "Now I'm gonna do what I've been wanting to do since I first saw your stupid face. I'm gonna smack the shit out of you. And I'm gonna keep hitting you until I get tired. Then I'm going to get a nice cold water and drink it in front of you and follow it up with some full contact punches. Then, if you happen to have any teeth left, you're gonna tell Gizmo whatever he wants to know."

Hive shook his hands as if to loosen them up.

"Let's get started."

His first blow caught me right in the cheek and felt like I'd been hit by a two by four. My head rocked to the side and my cheek felt numb.

"Is that the best you got?" I mustered. Despite pissing myself in terror, I felt compelled to taunt my tormentor. I think it's my stupid side. His next blow caught me near my mouth, splitting my upper lip and tearing the inside of my cheek with my teeth. My mouth rapidly filled with the iron metallic taste of blood.

"You hit like a fucking pussy," I spat, though it sounded more like "U it ike a nuckin' ussee."

Hive's punches kept coming. I felt my ear get damaged, the flesh around my left eye had swollen to the point where I could no longer see out that side of my face. One particularly vicious hit sent one of my bottom teeth flying.

When Hive finally stopped, my face and head felt like ground beef. I was pretty sure my face looked like ground beef too.

"Whew!" Hive said. He wiped his bloodied gloves on a towel. "You have a tough head for a civvie."

I lifted my mangled face up and glared at him through my one good eye.

Hive threw the towel over his shoulder and opened the steel door. Jinx stood there expectantly.

"Come in and clean him up," Hive said, "Then you can tell the lord shrimp that he can interrogate the prisoner." Hive turned and looked at me with a wide grin. "I'm glad we had this conversation, Mark. I look forward to talking to you again." Then Hive left.

Jinx came in with a tray of medical supplies which she tossed onto the table. She sat down in the chair in front of me and wrinkled her nose.

"Pissed yourself, huh?"

I glared at her with all the force I could muster... which wasn't really anything significant.

"So... you and Raven are a thing?"

I blinked at her.

"Come on, it was pretty obvious you two were on a date last week. I saw the video footage of her trying to suck your soul out of your face in that alleyway... at least before you two disappeared."

"F-f-fughg yuu," I spat. Blood drooled out of my mouth, to my annoyance.

"What's that?" The pink eyed girl said, "You think I'm amazingly attractive? Sorry tiger, I'm already spoken for. Also, even if I wasn't," she glanced down at my gut with a wry smile. "I like my men much more fit."

Jinx grabbed my injured jaw with one hand, making me wince. She leaned forward into my face. "I will tell you this much, sugar," she said menacingly. She leaned further forward and whispered into my undamaged ear. "I'm working with the Titans. I'm going to get you out of here soon. Act like I threatened to murder your mother or something."

I blinked, then I went wide-eyed and tried to struggle with my bonds. "Fuggin' itch!" I slurred realistically as I could.

Jinx leaned back and favored me with an evil grin.

"Don't you worry, lover-boy. You're in good hands. Let's get you cleaned up a bit." She stood up and grabbed some gauze and hydrogen peroxide. "By the way, this is gonna sting like a motherfucker."

She wasn't kidding.


	7. Chapter 7

_So big thanks to **Golem XIV** for pointing out some issues with my last chapter. It caused me to rethink a number of things for this chapter. This is what reviews are all about, gang. And you wonder why we cry for reviews? :-)_

 _There's a lot going on in this chapter. The Titans are definitely trying to locate their missing friendly neighborhood IT guy. Funny, I usually have more to say when I write these little Author's Notes, but I think I just want y'all to get on with the reading! I apologize in advance for any roughness. These are essentially first/second draft chapters._

 _So enjoy! Oh, and please review. Reviews keep a writer's soul alive, and for every review that goes unwritten, a homeless kitten dies. You don't want any homeless kittens to die, do you?_

 _ **Usual disclaimer:** I own none of these characters. Except for Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

Raven levitated in the lotus position within her meditation circle. Her mind was focused, her breathing controlled, and her center found. On her lap, Melvin the cat was curled up and sleeping, a testament to the number of hours Raven had been meditating for.

It had been a week since Mark was kidnapped from the Tower. It had taken Cyborg almost two days of constant work to get the power back on. Large numbers of electrical components had to be replaced, as well as most of the network equipment that Mark had installed, but now power was back up and the internet was accessible again. The large datacenter deep below the Tower had been unaffected by the EMP by virtue of being heavily shielded as well as underground. Most of the exterior glass panels had been replaced and the damaged repaired to the Tower. With the amount of times the Tower had been wrecked in the last five years, the Titans kept local construction companies on speed-dial. Cyborg and Robin were also working on ways to improve Tower security so an attack like that would never happen again, or at least catch them unprepared.

Essentially, nothing was different. Mark was still gone. Robin had put out the word. Every Titan around the world was on the lookout, so all they could do now was wait.

Raven began the process that had become her daily ritual when meditating. She expanded her awareness and sent her soul-self from her body. She could move herself around the world at the speed of thought, but only for five minutes at a time. The world was a big place, and Mark could be anywhere. So she searched, hoping to connect with his mind somehow.

* * *

I sat in my cell staring at the blank cinderblock walls. I was filthy and bloody and my body hurt in ways I never thought possible. The pink goth chick, Jinx, had assured me she was going to get me out of here, but I hadn't seen her since. I was beginning to worry that she had been exposed somehow, and now her body was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere. The upside of the whole situation was that I had definitely lost weight. Granted, it wasn't in a healthy way. My skin was loose and sallow and my stomach hurt incessantly. I was also pissing blood, though I didn't recall any particular kidney blows during my beating.

I had been questioned thoroughly by Gizmo, with Captain Hive hovering nearby. That guy was such a ginormous asshole. I hadn't seen anyone in three days, so I was beginning to think I had been left there to die. Except every day the slot at the bottom of my steel door opened and a tray containing fresh water and what was laughingly called food was shoved through.

My toilet was a filthy hole in the floor. Nothing was more embarrassing than having to squat over that. Thankfully, since I hadn't been fed a real lot, my shits were far and few between. But when they did happen, it was like passing gravel.

Since my brutal beating at the hands of Captain Hive, my body felt constantly in pain. My ribs burned where he had cracked them, and my eye was still swollen and bruised. My mouth felt painful where my tooth was missing and I was beginning to suspect I had an infection. I also had difficulty breathing through my nose. I didn't even want to imagine what my face must have looked like.

My cell seemed to be in a constant state of sweltering and humid heat. I would be sweating and itching and feeling like I was breathing in a blast furnace. When I slept, I was restless and my dreams were filled with visions of my favorite dark Titan, often times in little to no clothing. I decided in my delirium that I must seriously have it bad for that girl since here, at the end of all things, she still haunted me. I longed to see her. I once heard somewhere that at the moment of death, your entire life flashes before your eyes. I was still pretty young, and other than working for the Teen Titans, my life was pretty boring. I didn't want the last thing I saw to be a replay of my boring life. So in a way, I think I was glad to imagine that my last visions on this earthly plane would be a scantily clad Raven.

I lay next to the bottom of the metal door, trying to catch a little of the cool air conditioning seeping under the door. I let my un-swollen eye drift close and fell into a light doze, hoping to find the freedom in my dreams that I was currently lacking in reality. Once again, in my dreams I saw the beautiful Raven moving through the night sky, almost dancing in the moonlight that shone across my dreamscape. The shadows filled the corners of my dream, but Raven was my light. My moon goddess. I was looking forward to seeing her bare flesh again. Then it seemed that she spoke to me.

 _Listen and follow my voice, if you can hear it, Mark._

The voice repeated itself over and over again, like a recording. I called out to it.

 _I'm here!_

The voice stopped, and a shadowy figure appeared before me. It was massive and dark and bird-like in appearance.

 _Mark? Is that you?_

 _That's still my name, right? Mark Goldman?_

Something touched my face in the dream,

 _It really is you. Oh Azar, I found you_.

 _Raven? Is that... is that really you? This isn't just my dream?_

 _Yes, it's me. Can you tell me where you are? Do you know?_

 _I'm in a cell with no windows. Don't even know what time of day it is any more. My body hurts._

 _Can you tell me anything, Mark? Anything I can use to find you?_

I thought for a moment. This dream seemed more real than my other dreams. I tried to touch the shadow in front of me, but my hands seemed to pass through it.

 _I'm running out of time,_ Raven said, _please, if you can give me something... anything that could help us find you..._

 _It's really hot here. Heavy humidity._

 _Anything else?_

 _Pink goth chick, with cat eyes. Weird saddle-shaped hairdo that looks like horns... Jinx, her name is Jinx... she told me a few days ago that she was gonna try to get me out of here. That she was working with the Titans._

The shadow figure paused in my mind.

 _Jinx is there?_

 _Yes._

 _This helps a great deal, Mark. I promise I am coming for you. All the Titans are coming for you. I...I have to go now._

 _Wait, Raven! Don't go! Please don't go!_

Her voice was fading and the shadow creature retreated from my mind.

 _I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer. I'll see you soon._

My eye snapped open and I sat up with a start. The dream had felt so real.

* * *

Raven's soul-self slammed back into her body and she opened her eyes with a gasp, falling to the floor and upsetting Melvin. The cat jumped away and settled onto Raven's bed.

Raven stood up and staggered to her door. Her head was hurting.

 _Jinx. Where ever Mark was, Jinx was there._

Raven pulled out her communicator and opened it.

"Robin... I contacted Mark."

"I'll be right there."

Within five minutes, the Titan leader was standing in Raven's room while the empath sat on her reading couch with a cold compress on her forehead.

"Are you alright?" Robin asked.

"This type of psychic search takes a lot out of me," Raven replied, "I can only do it for five minutes at a time, but I've been doing it every hour for the last three days." Raven sat up. "The important thing is I was finally able to make contact with Mark."

"Did he tell you where he is?"

"He has no idea, he said he's in a concrete box and that it's really hot where he is..." Raven paused for a moment, "He also said he met Jinx."

Robin blinked.

"He saw Jinx? Was he sure it was her?"

"He described her as a 'pink goth chick with cat eyes' named Jinx. Who else could it be?"

Robin turned from the dark Titan for a moment and paced the floor. "Jinx is supposed to be on a mission for the JLU. She's in deep cover. She could be anywhere." Robin stopped his pacing. "I need to get a hold of Wally."

"Wally?"

"Kid Flash," Robin said, looking back at her, "He should have a way to contact her."

Raven rubbed her face with her hands, willing the pain in her head to subside. "Maybe he already has contacted her. Mark said she told him she was going to get him out of there and that she was working with the Titans, but he had no idea when or how."

"All the more reason to contact Kid Flash. He might know what she's planning."

"There was one more thing," Raven said in a shaky voice, "Robin, I think Mark is injured... badly."

Robin paused. "How do you know?"

"Robin, he seemed so... broken. Tired."

"Did he seem like he was giving up?"

Raven shook her head. "It's hard to say. But I feel like time is running out for him."

Melvin meowed and Raven scooped the orange tabby up into her arms, seemingly more for her own comfort than for Melvin's. Robin arched an eyebrow at this. Raven wasn't really a big pet person. He supposed this was the closest thing to Raven looking distressed over something.

"I'm going to go call Kid Flash now and see what he's got on this." Robin came over and put a reassuring hand on the dark Titan's shoulder. "I promised we would find and rescue Mark. If you talk to him again, tell him to hang in there. Help is coming. Ok?"

Raven nodded. "I know. Thanks, Robin."

* * *

Jinx walked down the dusty path between the buildings humming under her breath. The armed guards that Captain Hive brought were in constant patrol around the encampment. She ducked into the short dormitory building and breathed a sigh of relief when the cold air conditioned air blasted her in the face.

Stupid heat. Stupid humidity. Stupid Hive calling himself 'Captain' and promoting himself again. Stupid Gizmo being a little green-wrapped turd. Everything about the situation was getting under Jinx's skin.

She entered her quarters and locked the door behind herself. Then she took out her portable scanner and ran a scan of her room. Sure enough, there was several tiny cameras arrayed around her room. She went up to each one and grinned into the lense, then she flipped them her middle finger and tore the cameras down to crush under her platform boot. It was almost like a game between her and Gizmo. He used to do it back at the H.I.V.E. academy too. Every day, she'd find his stupid cameras, and every day he's put in new ones. It was really starting to piss Jinx off, especially since the first time she realized he had cameras in her room again was when he posted a video of her getting undressed to the camp intranet. She almost strangled the little shit. Considering she only agreed to this fiasco because he had literally begged her to come, Jinx felt the diminutive genius was pushing his luck.

It didn't take a lot for Jinx to realize that Gizmo, the unflappable genius inventor, was in over his head and terrified. It was only because they were her former H.I.V.E. friends that she had agreed to join this stupid escapade. That and some encouragement from the JLU since they wanted someone to keep an eye on what was going on. Also, Jinx really didn't have anything else to do. Gizmo had known where Jinx's loyalties currently lay, but he had contacted her anyway. The pink sorceress had never seen Gizmo look so worried or scared. So out of concern for her friend, she had agreed. And Gizmo had vouched for her.

Jinx kicked off her boots and dug her laptop out from her desk. A quick once-over followed by a scan of the laptop itself showed that it hadn't been tampered with. Jinx had gotten in the habit of lightly taping a single one of her pink hairs near the back of the laptop to act as a tamper seal. It was oldschool thief smarts that Jinx had picked up years ago. If she ever found the hair broken, it meant the laptop had been compromised.

She opened up her laptop and powered up, connecting to the camp wi-fi. Jinx knew that everything was being watched. Every outgoing or incoming network connection showed up in a log somewhere that the diminutive little troll would look at or parse with some program he'd written and she still didn't trust him completely. Something as obvious as an outbound encrypted connection would ring alarm bells, at least on Gizmo's console. While she doubted Gizmo would care, Jinx still felt it best to keep her external communications mostly secret.

The only way Jinx could contact her handler was by private message on a forum. The pink haired sorceress smirked to herself. The forum that Wally had chosen was a fanfiction site called TeenTitansErotica. There was a delicious irony there, especially since the speedster had introduced Jinx to that fanfiction site over a year ago by pulling up the raunchiest, nastiest, and sexiest story starring himself and her, and reading it aloud to the pink-haired former thief. Then he had challenged Jinx to top what the story had described. Jinx had grinned her wide chesire cat grin and proceeded to top everything. It was an extremely fun night.

Jinx logged into the site as 'PinkSlowPoke' and opened up her inbox. There was one message from 'TwisterFoot112.'

'Yo yo yo, pokey. Have you heard the latest from RedBird80? He's taking story submissions! Hit me up in the chat and I'll tell you what he's looking for!'

Jinx opened up a chat window.

'Sup Twist! UT?'

'Hey Pokey! what u up2?'

Jinx grinned. 'Nothin much! Was working on a new story to submit. U think RedBird might like it?'

'Depends on what you got. Hes looking for shit thats boring and heavy on the geek-speak.'

'Sounds like its right up my alley! I got something Im hoping i can polish up and send him by Friday! :-)'

'I got somethin way better to stick up ur alley, Pokey! And you can polish it too! :-P'

Jinx felt her face get hot. She was totally missing Wally in the worst way.

'If you wanna bring the pizza, Ill bring the ice cream!' she typed, 'have to do it at ur place tho. Its 2 dammed hot here!' Jinx paused for a moment, thinking. While talking with lots of innuendo wasn't usually a problem for her, using it like code for something besides the obvious was challenging. 'Maybe we can hookup towards the end of the week. I'll bring my story idea and you can help me polish it =(^_^)='

Jinx's laptop beeped with an incoming video chat request. She quickly plugged in her headphones and answered. A little encrypted video window opened up showing Kid Flash's handsome face.

"Whichever one of us came up with the idea of using innuendo and fanfiction writing as code... well it was dumb," Kid Flash said. He winked and gave her a cocky smile. "I completely lost track of what the hell we were talking about and thinking about what I want to do to you when I see you again."

Jinx frowned. "You are putting me at risk here, even if this is encrypted. Also, it was YOUR idea." She replaced her frown with a grin. "And yeah, all I could think about was us 'polishing' our 'story ideas.'"

Kid Flash chuckled. "Aww yeah, slowpoke. You know I love having my ideas polished. But we're getting off track. Where are you and have you seen this guy?" He held up a picture of a young looking professional with a close groomed beard and green eyes wearing glasses. "He's the systems engineer for Titan's West. Name is Mark Goldman. Got kidnapped almost a week ago."

Jinx nodded. "Yeah, that's the guy they have here in the isolation cell. I told him I work with the Titans and I would get him out. Still working on the 'get him out' part. 'Captain Hive'" Jinx made air quotes. "and his merry band of mercenary douche-nazis brought him here for Gizmo, though Gizmo said he doesn't think he needs the guy any more."

Kid Flash blinked. "Captain Hive?"

"Don't even get me started on him and his lame self-promotion."

"Any idea what Gizmo wanted him for originally?"

Jinx shrugged. "They want to get into some sort of big-ass JLU cloud network. I think Gizmo has been stalling. He told them originally that this guy would be the ticket in. They tried to get him a couple of weeks ago to drug whatever Gizmo wanted out of him, but they totally blew it, so the powers-that-be sent in Hive to just take him." Jinx grinned again. "On the flip-side, I think this dude is nailing Raven."

Kid Flash blinked again.

"Get the fuck out... that civvie tech dude is nailing THE RAVEN? Dark gothic ice queen RAVEN?"

Jinx giggled. "If I ever get a copy of the surveillance footage I saw, it's totally going up on Youtube. I'm actually surprised Giz hasn't put it up already."

"Anyway, do you know where you are?" Kid Flash asked.

"I want to say somewhere in South America, but I'm not sure. It was a really long flight here and they kept us pretty much in the dark for the duration. It is hot and humid as fuck though and we're surrounded by jungle."

"I get so turned on when you swear, slowpoke," Kid Flash smirked, "Hey, what time is it there? Do you know?"

Jinx glanced at her clock. "It's about 01:30 UTC."

"UTC? Shit, I was hoping to narrow down your timezone at least."

Jinx shrugged. "Yeah, every clock and watch here is UTC. My phone and laptop don't help either since they think I'm still in Jump City." She rubbed the back of her head. "My internal clock is telling me it's probably closer to 7:30 or 8 pm locally. My sleep rhythm is way off. The sun just set a few hours ago."

"Hmm... what time was it UTC when the sun set?"

"Um... I didn't see the time... maybe 23:00?"

Kid Flash looked thoughtful. "It's almost like a riddle. If the sun set at 23:00 UTC, what timezone would you be in?" Kid Flash rubbed his eyes. "Arrgh! Without knowing what time the sun was supposed to set where you are, it's next to impossible to guess what timezone you're in."

"Eh, don't melt your wingtips over it."

"It was worth a shot," Kid Flash said, "Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Specifically Goldman. How hard will it be for you to get him out? A skilled and sensuous little minx like you should have no problems I would think."

"That's what I thought too," Jinx replied, "Except they brought Cinderblock and that big slime thing... Plasmoid, no wait, Plasmus. They brought those two meta assholes on the same flight they brought this guy Goldman in." Jinx cocked her head. "Seriously, what do they put those guys into when they're in jail? Cardboard boxes?"

Kid Flash frowned. "Robin did tell me those two were broken out of prison the same time Goldman was kidnapped. Captain Hive has quite the team."

"Yeah, well they keep that Plasmus kid sleeping on stand-by while Cinderblock is guarding the only road in or out of this dump." Jinx rubbed her face. "Wally, I gotta get out of here. The humidity is killing me and yesterday, I saw Mammoth with his shirt off." Jinx shivered. "It was like a big, wet, smelly, dog."

"Well hang in there, slowpoke," Kid Flash said, "can you tell me what kind of condition Goldman is in? Can he run?"

"He's in piss poor condition. Fucking Hive kicked the ever-loving shit out of him. His face is totally fucked up and I think he's missing some teeth."

"Shit, that's not good." Kid Flash looked thoughtful. "Can you sneak out of camp by yourself? If you can get far enough away, we can track your signal from your T-communicator."

Jinx rubbed her face. She felt tired and more than a little care-worn.

"Wally, I don't think Goldman will last much longer. He's in REAL bad shape. I can't leave him here and hope the Teen Titans successfully assault this place. I gotta get him out."

Kid Flash smiled broadly at the camera. "I always knew that deep down beneath that sexy pink exterior there is a genuinely caring human being. Ok, work on getting him out. I gotta get back to Robin and tell him what we got so far."

Jinx nodded. "I'll drop you an innuendo-laced message on the forum when I have a plan."

"I love innuendo," Kid Flash grinned. He leaned closer to the camera, his grin fading. "Be careful, Jinx. I don't want to lose you."

Jinx felt her face flush with heat. "I will. I love you, Wally."

"Love you too, slowpoke. See you soon."

Jinx closed down her laptop and sighed. It had been really risky doing the video chat, but she knew that Gizmo didn't care about who she chatted with online. The little inventor seemed to be working hard to keep Goldman from being killed by Hive, so Jinx guessed he might actually be a bit less self-absorbed than he let on. Then she remembered the video Gizmo had posted of her and decided that he was still a massive little dick.

She stood up and taped another hair to her laptop before locking it in her desk drawer again. Jinx glanced at her clock. 0200 UTC... whatever the hell that time was locally. Time to go for a little walk-about. She changed into some comfortable shorts and swapped her gothic style dress for a thin dark cotton t-shirt. She also ditched her platform boots for some low and light sneakers. Jinx looked in her mirror at her glorious horned hair. She loved her hair and felt it was one of her more redeeming features. However, in the heavy humidity, all her hair was doing was acting like a horn-shaped sweat sponge on top of her head. She sighed and took out her hair bands, letting her wonderous pink locks fall in a cascade to her shoulders. She quickly bound it all together into a rough ponytail jutting from the back of her head. At least this way, it wouldn't be in the way and her head felt a little cooler.

Jinx stared at her reflection, thinking about her family. Almost nobody knew that Jinx had been born in Mumbai. Lighter skin and delicate features were considered desirable traits amongst the people she grew up with, so it always struck Jinx as ironic that she was summarily rejected by everyone, including her family, for the way she looked. You couldn't get much paler than near albino, though Jinx suspected her cat-like eyes and her luck altering abilities had also played a part in her being kicked out of the house. Well, Jinx was an honorary Teen Titan now, so _maaji_ and _pitaaji_ could respectfully go fuck themselves. India was too hot anyway.

The pink haired former thief slipped out of the dormitory and moved to the edge of the encampment. The jungle humidity was already making her sweat like a disgusting pig, but there was a slight wind that cooled her off some. She hid behind a low wall when she heard a few of Hive's armored soldiers tramp by. She shook her head as they moved away from her position. How on earth could they stand the heat in that heavy armor?

Jinx glanced up at the sky. The moon wasn't quite full, but she supposed that if she had a sextant, she could determine her actual position in the world. Then again, she had no idea how to use a sextant. For the one millionth time, Jinx wished she could just use the GPS in her phone, but there was some kind of dampening field over the camp that prevented anything outside the camp's wi-fi from working. On top of that, for whatever reason, whenever she tried to use her phone or laptop on the wi-fi to figure out her global position, they both came back with crazy and different shit every time. Sighing quietly at her pointless mental meanderings, she moved towards the vehicle pool.

Before Hive had brought Goldman to the camp, Jinx had simply been biding her time. She knew that there was something big going on, but Gizmo refused or was afraid to tell her and Mammoth pretty much knew fuck-all. See-more wasn't around, so she couldn't hit him up for info and Kid Wykyd never spoke anyway. She didn't really know any of the other metas in camp, so the pink haired sorceress kept to herself mostly and bided her time while waiting for something to happen. Jinx regretted agreeing to this 'deep cover' mission, but money was kind of tight. It was either this or bussing tables again. She sure as hell wasn't going to hit up Wally for money.

In the distance beyond the vehicle pool, Jinx could see Cinderblock standing like a statue near the entrance to the camp. Jinx sincerely hoped that all the birds would shit on him. Then she spotted something in the car pool that caught her immediate attention. Among the armored vehicles and personnel carriers, there was a pickup truck. Beaten and rusty, but built for four-wheeling through nasty shit with some big fat tires and a lift. It was parked like it was ready to go. She sidled up to the passenger side and tried the door. To her surprise, it opened. She flipped off the dome light before it drew any unwanted attention, then she quietly opened the glove compartment. Inside she pulled out what looked like a vehicle registration, and a road map fell out with it.

Jinx blinked at the map. Ooh, this was almost too easy. She glanced at the registration first. The name on it was Ernesto Salvo and the truck was registered out of Bogota, Colombia. Of course, that just meant that she was definitely in South America, and going by the constant heat and humidity, probably hovering around the equator... but just because the truck was out of Bogota didn't necessarily mean that she was in Colombia. Ernesto could have driven from Bogota to anywhere in South America... anywhere that's on the equator, at least. Unless she was way off and actually nowhere near the equator. Jinx opened the road map.

Oh Ernesto, you sexy sexy sexy Colombian man-beast. This was so stupidly easy. The roadmap encompassed all of Colombia and featured a hand marked black line leading south from Bogota, following route 40 to 65 southeast, skirting the mountains and going south again near the border of Ecuador to a location where there didn't seem to be any major roads but lots of local backroads. Written above the location was 'campamento de hermanos' with an arrow pointing at a little circled section of jungle. In Colombia. About 400 miles south of Bogota.

 _Ernesto, I could kiss you._

Jinx stuffed the registration back into the glove compartment, but the map she folded up tight and stuck it into the back of her shorts. When she got back to civilization, Jinx intended on framing the fucking thing.

A grin formed on Jinx's face. Now that she had a good idea where the camp was, it was time to start taking note of patrols, shift changes, scheduled vehicles going in and out of the camp...

Jinx finally could feel a plan hatching.

* * *

Robin stood in his room silently looking over the new costume one more time. Years before, Starfire had traveled twenty years into the future and met a version of Robin that he had always felt himself slowly moving towards. The identity of Robin... it had started to feel like a set of clothes that he'd outgrown. No longer a 'boy wonder' but a man.

The costume was mostly black with a blue bird emblazoned on the chest. Nightwing. When Starfire told him that name, it rang true in his mind. Nightwing. The boy who had been Robin needed to grow up, and the mantle of 'Robin' needed to be passed to the new young sidekick that Batman had recently begun training.

He tried on the costume again. The fit was perfect. The design impeccable. The microfiber material being resistant to puncture wounds and knife slashes and even capable of turning small arms fire aside. It just felt... right.

Robin changed back into his regular costume and returned the Nightwing uniform to his closet. It wasn't time yet. He wanted to resolve the current crisis before throwing the rest of the team for a loop with an identity change.

Starfire knew of this impending shift. She even supported it. Whenever Robin looked into the beautiful alien princess' eyes, he could see nothing but love and passion that made his heart burn in his chest.

Robin had just clipped his utility belt back on when his communicator buzzed. He flipped it open.

"Robin here."

"Hey chief!" Kid Flash's face appeared, "I have some news!"

"What you got, Wally?"

"Jinx confirmed that she met your boy, Goldman."

Robin left his room and headed to the main operations area. "That's great! Did she tell you where she is?"

"Well, that's sort of the problem... she has no idea where she is. She thinks maybe South America, but she's not sure where yet."

"At least we've narrowed it down to one part of the globe," Robin muttered, "South America is only around seven million square miles. Should be easy to find one kidnapped IT guy." Robin arched an eyebrow. "How does she not know her location? Both the T-communicator and her phone have GPS."

Robin entered main ops and cast the call from his communicator to the recently replaced big screen. Kid Flash's face now dominated the room.

"Well, she said they were kept in the dark during the flights to where ever they are and there's a dampening field over the camp she's in." Kid Flash's voice boomed now on the surrounding speakers. Robin lowered the volume. "Also, JLU pretty much told her to sit tight and wait for something to happen. Your boy showing up qualified as something that happened."

"So tell me that Jinx is working on a plan to get them out."

"She is. She told me that she wanted to get out by the end of the week. But there's some complications." Kid Flash looked briefly annoyed. "She said that Cinderblock and Plasmus were there."

"Figures that's where they went." Robin shook his head. "Wally, we really screwed the pooch here. They had us distracted by Overload downtown, knowing that we couldn't respond to that jail break. And at the same time, they assaulted the Tower and kidnapped Mark. Even Beast Boy got hurt. We really need to start bringing in the Titan candidates that Vic has been working with. Our team gets stretched thin too easily."

"Well, I do have some info that could be useful," Kid Flash said, "Jinx told me that Captain Hive was the one running the operation to grab your boy."

Robin blinked. "Captain now?"

"He self-promotes."

"I hope that asshole enjoyed his case of the chicken pox," Robin growled, "because next time I see him, I'm gonna give him something much much worse!"

Kid Flash was silent for a moment. "Robin, when Jinx gets a fix on her location, I'm intending on heading in to her. I don't like leaving her there by herself, not when I can be in South America in under three hours. I didn't like this operation at all when I heard about it."

"How did she end up back with the H.I.V.E. team anyway?" Robin asked, "Do they even trust her?"

"Gizmo contacted her about a month ago. She told me he looked scared and was asking for her help. Said he'd vouch for her if she came in." Kid Flash sighed. "I told her to contact JLU. Apparently some asshat in there told her to take advantage and jump onboard. I guess the JLU has been investigating something big and guessed this might be related. Robin, the stipend they pay to part-time members is barely shit. Would you believe she was bussing tables? It's hard to get a job when you're a former villain. Naturally when some hazard pay was on the table, Jinx took them up on it. I'm supposed to be her handler on this, but it's not like JLU's been burning my phone down for status updates."

"Wally, once she's out of that mess, think she'd be interested in coming in as a full time Titan? I really need more people and Jinx has experience."

Kid Flash narrowed his eyes. "You aren't just offering that out of pity or some shit, are you?"

"Are you fucking kidding? Did you hear me when I said this team is easily stretched thin? Vic has been running his training camp, but I need people who know what they're doing now." Robin looked back up at Kid Flash's large face. "Plus she knows Jump City."

Kid Flash grinned. "I'll ask her next time I hear from her. I'm sure she'd be thrilled at the chance to live with Raven and Vic."

"I'll have to clear it through the rest of the team," Robin stated, "But she's proven herself in the past and like I said, we need people. Tell her we'll do a formal interview when she gets back."

"Will do." Kid Flash glanced over his shoulder at a flashing light offscreen. "I gotta go, work calls." He turned back to the camera. "I'll be in touch when she contacts me again. Oh, and Robin?"

"What?"

"Thanks man."

The call cut out as Kid Flash disconnected. Robin glanced towards the hallway.

"How long have you been standing there, Raven?"

The dark Titan glided in, her hood down.

"Long enough. Jinx thinks she's in South America?"

Robin nodded. "Yeah. A lot of this right now is depending on Jinx being able to get them both out."

"You think she can do it?"

Robin was quiet for a moment. "Yes," he finally said, "I think she can." He cocked his head at Raven. "What about having Jinx join the team? Would you have a problem with that?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. "Not really. She might be a pain in the ass, but she's competent. If she gets Mark out, she'll absolutely have my vote."

"You're really worried about Mark."

"I'm always worried when my friends are kidnapped."

Robin sighed. Raven still didn't want to admit that Mark was more than just a friend to her. He decided not to press the issue. Raven would figure it out on her own.

Raven turned to go. "I have to clean out Melvin's litterbox now. Let me know if you hear anything else."

Robin blinked at that.


	8. Chapter 8

_I'm really thinking that this might be my favorite chapter so far. Not a lot of Raven in it, though. Jinx came forward and was central to a lot of this chapter. I really like how she came alive in my head here. Sort of a mixture of who she was in the show, the comic book, and a dose of maturity mixed in. Also, her dialogue was extremely fun to write._

 _This chapter had a ton of action in it, which hopefully makes up for the lack of action in the first few chapters. :-) Still a lot to resolve though, but hopefully people will enjoy this ride. It still is a little rough in some areas though. Need to tighten up some of the story elements, but overall, I'm really happy with this one._

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** I still don't own any of these characters... except Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

Jinx waited patiently for her encrypted video chat call to go through. It seemed like an eternity before Kid Flash answered. He blinked at her for a moment before speaking.

"Slowpoke? Is everything ok? I thought you were going to ping me in the forum." Kid Flash cocked his head, staring at Jinx's hair. "Is that a new look? Cuz I like it!"

Jinx opened up the road map and held it far enough from the laptop camera to take in all the important parts.

"Get an image of this, Wally. This map shows where we are."

"Get the fuck out... you found a fucking map?"

Jinx grinned. "You bet that tight little spandexed ass I did!"

Kid Flash peered at the map. " _Campamento de hermanos_... hang on a sec..." Jinx heard the speedster type something on his keyboard. "'Brothers Camp.'"

"Is that what that means?"

"Yeah," Kid Flash replied, "But I don't quite understand the context. Brothers camp? The map-owner's brother? Doesn't indicate a possessive."

"Brotherhood of Evil?" Jinx suggested.

"Maybe. It's tough to read into. The important thing is we sort of know where you are." Kid Flash grinned. "I can be there in like four hours if I run full speed."

"Hold off on that for a minute," Jinx said, holding up the map again, "I want you to let the other Titans know to meet us..." her finger trailed one of the back roads north of the camp circle. "...right here."

Kid Flash peered at the map again. "That's like twenty miles away from the encampment. Why so far?"

Jinx lowered the map. "I don't want the Titans to assault this place."

"Why not?"

"JLU wanted me to keep an eye on it and wait for something to happen. Well, something happened and I'm getting out." Jinx glanced at her door. "Wally, not counting the metas, there must be a thousand armed soldiers here. Trained, armed, professional, soldiers. If the Titans attack this place, there's going to be way too many casualties. Furthermore, I only know a few former H.I.V.E. people here. I don't even know what the other metas here can do. We'll tell the JLU everything. It's their fucking problem after we're gone."

Kid Flashed watched Jinx's face for a moment before speaking. "You really do care, don't you? Despite making everyone believe that there's simply not enough shits in this world for you to spare a single one, you actually do give a shit." His smile grew wide. "I really love you, you know?"

Jinx's face grew hot. "S-Shut up. I don't give a shit. I just don't want to get caught in any cross-fire or something."

"Right."

"Anyway," Jinx continued, "If you want to come here, meet me at that location on Friday at 10am."

"10am my time or..."

"10am Colombia time." Jinx hesitated for a moment. "One more thing..."

"What's that?"

"There might be more than just me and Goldman..."

* * *

"Gizmo, you got a minute?"

The diminutive genius spun his chair and stared at the pink haired sorceress that invaded his domain.

"The fuck do you want? I'm friggin' busy!"

Jinx closed the door behind her. "Make us secure."

Gizmo sighed. He spun around and typed a command on his keyboard. A series of lights winked on around the small room.

"Fine, we're frackin' secure already!"

"I'm getting out of here."

Gizmo spun his chair again, his face a mixture of fear and anger.

"Whaddya mean yer getting out of here? The fuck do you think yer going?" he growled.

Jinx sighed. "You know I still work for the Titans, but you asked me to come with you." She focused her burning pink gaze onto Gizmo's face. "Giz, I can't fucking STAND IT here."

She threw a roadmap onto Gizmo's desk. "By the way, we're 400 miles south of Bogota, Colombia. In case you had no idea where we were either." She pointed at the map. "I found that in a truck over in the depot."

Gizmo picked up the map and studied it. "What kind of fucking butt-muncher marks up a map to show a SECRET location?"

"I don't care who. The truck was registered to an Ernesto Salva. No idea who that is, nor do I care. I also plan on stealing his truck. And one more thing... I'm taking that guy Goldman with me."

Gizmo stared up at the pink haired sorceress. "What the fuzz-fuck are you yammering about?"

"I said I'm taking Goldman with me."

"Goddammit, Jinx!" Gizmo seethed, "You know that Hive would murder you if you tried!"

Jinx came over and sat on the table next to Gizmo's keyboard.

"That's why I need your help, Giz," Jinx said, "If a general alarm goes off, this place will lock down tighter than a drum and they'll definitely kick that Plasmus kid out of bed. I need a window to escape through."

"Why the fuzz-munching fuck would I help you?"

Jinx grinned. "Because I want you to come with us."

Gizmo blinked for a moment.

"What?"

"You heard me. Come with us, Giz. You don't want to be here any more than I do. I wanna see if Wykkyd and Mammoth will come with us as well." Jinx's smile grew wider. "Think of it as the last great escape of the H.I.V.E. Five."

"There's only four of us."

"Don't split hairs. It's close enough." Jinx sighed. "Giz, we're getting older. I'm gonna turn twenty in a few months. I got no idea how old Mammoth is or you, but we're not kids any more. That's why I gave it up and joined the Titans. More of a future there where prison time isn't around the fucking corner." She wrinkled her nose for a second in thought. "Now that I think about it, I'm not sure Kid Wykkyd even ages. How old is that guy?" She shook her head. "I digress. My point is this: You fucking hate it here. You hate this job. You're fucking terrified. I also know you're the only reason why Goldman isn't dead."

Gizmo narrowed his eyes at the pink sorceress. "How the scuzz-munching fuck do you know? I'm not scared of any fucking thing and I don't give a pit-shit if Goldman lives or dies!"

He spun his chair to his keyboard and called up a log on his big screen.

"You see this shit? This is you talking to yer fucking pit-sniffing boyfriend! Give me a good reason why I shouldn't send this over to Hive right now!"

"Why haven't you already?"

Gizmo turned to glare at Jinx. "Fucking, because...!"

"Because you're still my fucking friend!" Jinx shouted at the diminutive inventor, cutting him off. She glared back at him with fire in her pink eyes. "Although I'm still tempted to smoke you to oblivion for that video stunt you pulled, you are still my friend."

Gizmo looked away. "Fine. Yer fracking right. I am scared. These people are really really scary."

"Who are they?"

"They're the Brotherhood, or what's left of them. They were the ones who financed this all. They want into the JLU's cloud network primarily because every hero in the League has a full dossier on the secure site." He glanced back at Jinx. "And every villain. You and I are definitely in the database." Gizmo rubbed his eyes. "Do you frackin' understand that the fuzz-fucking JLU investigates EVERY fucking META that they get involved with? They find out who you are, who you were, family, friends, fucking kindergartens you went to or places you lived. All that shit goes into a neat little file in their master database. THAT'S what the Brotherhood really wants open access to! And that's why they want me to get a guaranteed back door in for them before the JLU's cloud network goes live!"

Gizmo pointed at the door.

"That ass-muncher Hive is here to make sure I do my job! Him and his merry band of mechanical assholes!"

Jinx blinked. "Mechanical? You mean they're robots?"

"Of course they're robots! Who the right-minded fuck would follow a psycho like Hive?"

Jinx glanced at the door. "What happened to that guy? He never used to be like this."

Gizmo shrugged. "I heard it had something to do with chicken pox." He sniffed. "Who gives a shit anyway? The guy's a fucking pit-sniffing murderous lunatic now!"

Jinx turned to look at Gizmo again. She slid off the console and crossed her arms.

"Gizmo, come with us. Fuck the Brotherhood, fuck this gig, and fuck Hive."

Gizmo stared at his screen, his face unreadable.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder," he finally said softly, "they will come after us, Jinx. Maybe not Hive. But he's not the only crazy person they have."

Jinx's pink eyes blazed with a fiery pink light. She raised her hands and clenched them into fists as a nimbus of crackling pink energy engulfed them.

"You seem to forget who I am, Giz," Jinx said with a dangerous tone, "and who we are. We are the fucking H.I.V.E. Five. We are dangerous and we have lots of powerful friends on both sides. Let the Brotherhood come looking for us at their peril."

Gizmo's face broke out into his trademarked wicked grin.

"Yer frackin' right! That is who we are!" He looked at his display again. "Still only four of us here though."

"Shut-up. I'm having a bad-ass moment here."

Gizmo spun his chair to look directy at Jinx.

"Fine. Let's do this. Let's get the fuzz-munching fuck out of here. What's your plan?"

Jinx lowered her fists and the power faded. "First, I'm gonna have you get Mammoth and Kid Wykkyd onboard. They'll listen to you. Mammoth is still pissed at me for joining the Titans."

"Ok, what else?"

"We're gonna move Friday morning. I'll need you to help me get Goldman out of his cell."

Gizmo frowned. "That's not gonna be frackin' easy."

"You pretty much control all the security systems in the camp." Jinx grinned. "It shouldn't be that hard to get me a blackout."

* * *

Thursday afternoon, Robin's communicator beeped. He and Starfire had been sparring in the training room. Well, more of Robin dodging starbolts and avoiding punches that could shatter brick walls. Starfire had been sullen and quiet of late and Robin wanted to try to cheer her up. He figured a good sparring session would help the alien princess to forget the things that troubled her, for at least an hour or so.

Robin knew better than to try to block Starfire's punches. When the Tamaranean was in serious fight mode, breaking an arm trying to block her punch was not outside the realm of possibility.

"Starfire, hold!" Robin shouted.

Starfire's orange fist stopped instantly an inch from Robin's face. Then she dropped it to her side.

"I am sorry Robin," The princess whispered, "I am of the distracted mind."

Robin took her hands in his own and looked into her beautiful green eyes.

"Star, you have to listen to me. We are doing everything we can. We are close to finding Mark."

"I am still convinced that had I been here, Friend Mark would not have been taken and Friend Beast Boy would not have been injured." Starfire clenched her fists. "I am just so angry that they dared enter our home and hurt our friends!"

Robin pulled her into a gentle hug and Starfire wrapped her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she dared.

"I love you, Star," Robin whispered into her ear, "Please believe me when I say we will make this right."

Robin's communicator beeped again. He glanced over and then let go of Starfire to pick it up.

"This is Robin, go ahead."

"Are you sitting down?" Kid Flash's face popped up on the display.

Robin looked over at Starfire. The alien princess nodded and then took out her own communicator to page the rest of the team.

"Just spit it out, Wally," Robin said. He motioned for Starfire to follow him and headed out to main operations.

"I know where Goldman is."

Robin cast the call to the main display again. Starfire hovered at his side, her eyes glowing.

"This is great news!" Robin exclaimed, "Where are they?"

Cyborg and Raven rushed into the room.

"You got something, Rob?" Cyborg was asking as he walked in. He glanced up at the big image of Kid Flash.

"Hey Cyborg, Raven!" Kid Flash waved. "I was just about to do my dramatic reveal as to the location of your missing IT guy."

"Sooner would be better," Raven said glaring.

"Ok, ok, keep your panties on, cutie." Kid Flash adjusted something on his communicator, then a big image of Jinx with her hair down in a pony-tail popped up. The pink sorceress was holding what looked like a road map. Robin saved the image and zoomed in on it. Then he blinked.

"Jinx found a roadmap with directions to their secret encampment?" Robin asked, dazed.

"I know, right?" Kid Flash chuckled, "What kind of an asshat puts the directions to a secret location on a stupid roadmap?"

"Is it real?" Raven asked, "I mean, how does Jinx know it wasn't planted wherever she found it?"

"Jinx is pretty certain it's real. The encampment is 400 miles south of Bogota, Colombia."

"Let us go at once!" Starfire exclaimed. She turned to Cyborg. "Friend Vic, you can make ready of the T-ship?"

The display returned to Kid Flash's large face. The speedster held up his hands.

"Whoa whoa! Slow down!" Kid Flash said, "Jinx has a plan. She wants us to meet her twenty miles north." He pulled up the image again and marked a spot north of the encampment. "Right here. Tomorrow at 10am, Bogota time."

Cyborg frowned. "I don't get it! Why don't we just go in there and kick some ass and get Mark back?"

Kid Flash frowned. "Look, Jinx said this place was heavily armed. Like professional soldiers with guns. Then there's Plasmus and Cinderblock. She also said there's a lot of metas there that she has no clue what they can do. She's not even sure what other defenses they have. Even if you get a team put together of all the official Titans and storm this place, people are going to get killed if you go off half-assed."

Robin turned to the rest of his team. "Wally's right. We can't just attack this place without doing a full recon and planning. We simply don't have time for that if we want to get Mark out. Plus he could get hurt worse in the crossfire and we don't know if there are any other civilians there."

The three other Titans were quiet, but Robin could see the emotions raging across Cyborg's and Starfire's faces. Raven's face was unreadable, but Robin doubted the dark Titan was thinking pleasant thoughts.

"They busted into this place, trashed it, almost killed one of my friends and kidnapped the other," Cyborg growled, "Somebody is owed an ass-whuppin' for this, and I happen to have a whole keg of whoop-ass I'm dyin' to tap."

"We need a planning session," Robin said, "We absolutely cannot go in hair-trigger." He turned back to the big screen. "Wally, can you-"

"Are you guys gonna let me in or what?" Kid Flash interrupted. He turned his communicator and showed the main door to the Tower. "You're lucky I haven't moved back to Central City yet. Woulda taken me at least ten minutes to get here."

Cyborg touched his arm display and remotely opened the door. An instant later Kid Flash zoomed in from the stairway in the hall.

"Your elevator is too slow," the speedster grinned. He closed his communicator and cut off the transmission to the big screen.

* * *

They had been discussing the situation for an hour. On the big display, the leaders of the various Titan teams were conferenced in on a big video chat.

Robin looked up at the large screen.

"All I'm asking from you guys is two members from each team to come with us. This is a completely last-minute op. No idea what we are going to encounter. We know that Plasmus and Cinderblock are going to be in the neighborhood, but we're still unsure as to what sort of defense is going to be there. We aren't going to be assaulting the camp, but I want us there in some semblance of strength in case things go south."

Robin looked back at his team.

"From our group, it's going to be Starfire, Raven, and me. Kid Flash will also be joining in. Cyborg will stay here with Beast Boy."

"No. Fucking. Way." Cyborg stated.

Robin rubbed his eyes. "Vic, we need you to stay here. Somebody needs to keep the Tower manned, and BB still can't even walk yet."

"Find someone else."

Robin slammed his fists down on the table. All semblance of patience left him as the pressure of the past week exploded.

"Vic, I need you to man the Tower's defenses! You are the only one who can do it effectively and Beast Boy fucking needs you! We CANNOT be caught with our pants around our fucking ankles again!"

Everyone fell silent as Robin tried to calm himself down. He opened his fists and let his hands lay on the table as he looked away.

"Look, I don't mean to lose my cool. That was unprofessional of me." The Titan's leader looked back up into Cyborg's face. "I apologize, Vic."

Cyborg sighed and rubbed the metal half of his head. "Nah, I'm sorry. I'm just really angry, Rob. I really want to put some hurt on these guys, but you're right. I'll stay here."

"Thank you."

"I can see you guys are having some serious stress issues," Bumblebee said from the screen, "I can give you Mas and Menos. I can't spare anyone else right now."

"Gnarrk and Kole are available from our team," Red Star offered.

Pantha piped in. "I can come, but we're short-manned, so all you got is me."

Robin sighed. "Well, I didn't plan on any sort of assault. The nine of us will have to be enough then. I was hoping to hear in from more of the honoraries, but we'll have to do."

"Hey, we're more than enough," Kid Flash smirked.

Robin smiled back at the speedster. Then he looked back at the big screen. "Ok, I've sent the coordinates to you guys. If you can have your people meet us there tomorrow at 10am, Colombia time, we'll take it from there."

"Will do."  
"Good luck."  
"See you tomorrow."

The video conference signed off.

Robin looked back at Cyborg. "Vic, can you please ready the T-ship? I wanna be out of here in the next couple of hours. It's going to be a long flight to Colombia."

* * *

Friday morning started on somewhat of a good note for Jinx. She climbed out of bed and finished packing her most important belongings into her backpack. Then she looked around her temporary living space for the last month. Well, at least it had been air conditioned. That was probably the only positive thing she could think of. She tucked some extra fashion accessories into her belt, just in case she needed them. Then she shouldered the backpack.

Jinx left the dormitory. Outside she passed Mammoth and casually shoved her backpack into his massive hand as he passed her a brown paper bag. The larger former H.I.V.E. member nodded briefly in Jinx's direction before disappearing towards the back of the campsite. Jinx glanced at her watch, now set to local Colombian time and off damned UTC. It was 8:30 am. She opened the bag and looked inside. Four shaped charges, fresh from the armory. The best kind of breakfast for a former villainess. She pocketed two of the charges. Ahead of her, Jinx saw Kid Wykkyd moving towards her. She couldn't understand why he didn't seem hot at all in his all black cloak and cowl, but it wasn't really important. She calmly handed Wykkyd the remaining charges in the bag as they passed each other.

"South gate, set for 14:00 UTC," Jinx murmured. Wykkyd nodded and then teleported.

Jinx felt like good things were gonna happen that day.

Up ahead, she saw Gizmo in his customary oversized backpack. Jinx nodded at a patrol of armored soldiers and jogged to catch up to the diminutive inventor.

"Big plans for today?" Jinx asked casually.

"Yeah, gonna finish this bullshit Goldman business once and for all," Gizmo responded, "You available for a meeting in fifteen minutes?"

"Absolutely."

"Good, I'll leave the door open for you, in exactly fifteen minutes mark."

"You seen Hive anywhere?" Jinx asked, looking around absently.

"He was supposed to be heading out somewhere with a team. No idea where."

"I guess I'll have to catch up with him later then. I'd better go check on the prisoner before the meeting."

Jinx nodded. She split off from Gizmo and set the charges near the detention centers main generator then she headed into the building. The air conditioning of the detention center smacked her right in the face when she entered the building. There were several of Hive's soldiers standing guard in the main forward part of the building. She nodded to them and palmed the security reader. The security door slid aside and she walked back towards the holding cells. All of the other cells were empty, except for the one holding Goldman. A helmeted guard approached the pink sorceress.

"Ma,am, this is a restricted area. Do you require assistance?" The guard's voice sounded artificial from behind the protective mask. Jinx guessed it was another one of Hive's robotic soldiers. She glanced at her watch again.

"Actually, I'm right where I'm supposed to be."

The building suddenly vibrated with the impact of an explosion. Then the room plunged into darkness followed by the emergency lights as the power cut out and backup power kicked in.

"It seems like we are under attack," Jinx observed.

The robotic guard turned away from her for a moment, and Jinx touched it on the shoulder with a jolt of pink energy. The guard spasmed then fell forward. Jinx moved behind the control console as the two guards from outside rushed into the hallway.

"An attacker," Jinx said. She pointed at the two guards and let fly more hexes. "He went thataway."

The two other robotic guards fell forwards, their bodies smoking. Jinx turned to the console and reached for the release for Goldman's cell.

"I knew it. I knew you couldn't be trusted you fuckin' albino whore."

Jinx spun around and found herself staring up at the grinning masked face of Hive. He advanced on her.

"Where the hell were you hiding? I thought you were out of the camp today!"

"I knew something was up," Hive answered, "when that little midget started asking me where my next mission was. He never cared before." He continued to advance until Jinx was backed up to the console. "You know, from the moment that little piece of shit demanded we bring you in on this, I had hoped that maybe he knew something the rest of us didn't. You see, I was there when the Titan's stormed the Brotherhood base. I saw you in your little goth-witch outfit with your stupid pink horns throwing curses at the people who used to be your fuckin' comrades. But I thought that maybe you were still working for us and the Titans thing was an act."

Hive loomed over Jinx, cracking his knuckles.

"I really liked your legs, you know? I used to imagine what it would be like to split you like a banana and fuck you silly. Now I think I'm gonna find out before I twist your head off like a bottle cap."

Jinx raised her hand, preparing to summon a pink bolt. Then she noticed nothing appeared to happen and she stared at her fist for a moment. That was funny. Her powers were just working.

"Confused, huh?" Hive grinned. He pointed behind himself at a blinking device in the corner near the ceiling. "That's called an inhibitor. These cells were meant to hold metas, so that thing normally emits a signal that prevents abilities like yours from manifesting. We had it off to save power cuz Goldman is just vanilla human, but they kick on within a minute or so if the building switches to backup power. So you got nothing now, cute-stuff. Your boy Goldman can listen to you cry while I get my rocks off." He grabbed the console and tossed it out of the way.

Jinx shook her head, her own chesire cat grin spreading across her face.

"Oh Captain... you're such a scary man. You've got me tremblin' away in my boots." Her grin grew wider and her eyes narrowed. "Did you really think my powers are all I have?"

Jinx's boot suddenly connected with Hive's exposed jaw, sending him stumbling back in surprise. He stared at her, moving his tongue across his teeth.

"I think you almost took out one of my teeth," he said, "you're a pretty feisty kitten. I like that!"

Hive exploded forward, his fist flying towards Jinx's head. She ducked and spun, kicking her leg out and knocking Hive's feet out from under him. He fell to the ground but quickly leaped back to his feet. They circled each other slowly.

"You know, you're just gonna break your cute little fists on me if you actually hit," Hive taunted.

Jinx continued to grin and reached into her belt for her extra 'fashion accessories.' She brought her hands back up, this time with wide brass knuckles. On her right hand the word "FUCK" was engraved across the knuckles and on the left hand, the word "YOU" completed the phrase.

"I keep these around for when I feel like making a fashionable statement."

Hive's smile disappeared. "Actually, those would kind of hurt."

"On a tough guy like you? Let's find out!"

Jinx shot forward. Hive knocked the first punch aside with his shield, but the pink girl's follow-up caught him right in the gut. He grunted and fell back. Then he swung his shield like a scythe at Jinx's head. She ducked again and upper-cut his wrist as the shield passed over. Hive yelled in pain and fell back again. Jinx ran at him and jumped, catching his throat between her legs. She used her momentum to swing herself around and up until she sat on his shoulders, then she hammered her fist down on his head. Hive's shield blocked her downward blow and she loosed her legs and fell backward, flipping mid-air to land on her feet behind him. Hive spun, growling.

"I guess you do have some skill, you pink fucking witch."

"I'm a H.I.V.E. Academy graduate, fuck-face. You think I got by on pink curses and good looks alone? By the way..." Jinx leaped upward, her brass covered fist smashing the inhibitor in a shower of sparks. "...you clearly need to pay more attention to what your opponents are up to."

"Well, shit."

Hive brought his shield up and blocked the pink blast of energy. His shield suddenly cracked in half and hung from his arm in two pieces. He stared at it dumbly as Jinx used his arm as a brace and hammered him right in the center of his mouth with her brass knuckled fist. Hive's front teeth shattered and he screamed. Spitting broken teeth he swung wildly at Jinx who nimbly dodged his swings. She cut to the side and pounded Hive in the kidneys. He fell to his knees.

"See, that's the thing about spandex," Jinx said, "It doesn't do much to protect you. Goodnight, 'Captain.'"

Jinx enveloped Hive's head in a nimbus of pink energy. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell sideways, unconscious.

* * *

From inside my cell I could hear shouting and scuffling going on outside my heavy metal door. The power had cut out and now my cell was bathed in emergency lights. I briefly considered banging on the door, but then decided that there was no point. Then the cell door suddenly slid open revealing the silhouette of a girl with pink highlights on her head where I guessed her hair was.

"Rise and shine, Goldman," I heard a familiar voice say, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

I blinked. "Is that you, Jinx?"

"Nobody else this smexy would be banging down your cell door." Jinx came in and grabbed my arm, dragging me to my feet. Behind her, I saw a few bodies and what looked like... Hive. On the floor. Unmoving.

"Did you kill him?" I asked.

Jinx shook her head. "No time. But he'll be eating through a straw for a while."

I shook off her hand and walked over to the prone captain. Then I drew my foot back.

"Nobody," _KICK_ , "Gives a fuck," _KICK_ , "About YOUR fucking opinions," _KICK_ , "either," _KICK_ , "dick slit!"

I leaned over, my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. My cracked ribs were hurting from the exertion.

"Feel better?" Jinx asked.

"As long as it hurts him to breath while sucking his meals through a straw," I growled.

An explosion outside rocked the building.

"That's our cue," Jinx said. She shoved a black bundle into my arms. "Put this on."

"What is it?"

"It's a fucking prom dress. What do you think it is?" She wrinkled her nose. "Hurry up. Maybe you won't smell so bad if you change out of those rags."

I grimaced, then stripped off what was left of my clothes. I didn't care that Jinx was watching, but I saw her eyebrows go up as her eyes widened. I followed her stare and quickly covered my crotch.

"Hey!"

Jinx shook her head. "Buddy, that thing should be illegal. You're gonna hurt someone with it." She grinned and looked up at my face, wiggling her eyebrows. "Can Raven even walk after being nailed with that?"

If my face hadn't been so dirty and fucked up, I'm sure it would have been as red as a stoplight.

"We're not... I-I mean, I'm not...!" I stammered.

"Dude, I saw the surveillance video. You guys didn't teleport away to talk about your feelings."

I blinked with my one good eye.

"What video?"

Jinx shook her head. "Just hurry up and get dressed, Penisaurus. We got a ride to catch and we have to be somewhere in less than an hour."

I finished putting on the guard uniform. Jinx tossed me the helmet and mask. I looked at it and winced, thinking about the heat outside. I wasn't looking forward to having it pressed to my swollen face. I put it on and took a deep breath to sigh, and almost doubled over from the pain in my ribs. Jinx grabbed my arm again.

"Come on, if anybody asks, you don't speak English."

We left the detention building and hid behind a corner. The camp was in chaos with soldiers and other meta-humans running towards the explosions.

"What did you do?" I asked.

Jinx just grinned. "Don't worry about it. A few explosive charges never hurt anyone."

We started moving towards the vehicle pool when I noticed a large grey humanoid shaped blur moving around in the distance.

"What the fuck is that?"

"It's just Cinderblock." Jinx looked around as we moved through the pandemonium. "I don't see Plasmus yet. That's good."

We got to the vehicle depot unmolested and I yanked off the smothering guard helmet and mask. I saw three other people around a pickup truck that seemed to have a lift kit and oversized wheels. I recognized the smallest figure climbing into the cab.

"Gizmoid?" I exclaimed.

"That's 'Gizmo' you fucking twat," the short inventor growled at me. He looked at Jinx. "About frackin' time you showed up! The fuck took you so long?"

"Hive was there waiting. Had to deal with him."

Gizmo blinked. "Did you kill him?"

Jinx scowled. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? No, I didn't fucking kill him!"

Gizmo pointed past Jinx's shoulder. "I wish you fucking had!"

Hive was charging down the dirt road. His face was bloody and his mouth was a gaping bloody hole.

"Yuu fuggin' itch!" Hive howled. Around the depot, soldiers were starting to notice us.

"Ah, fuck!" Jinx yelled. She pushed me into the cab and jumped in after me. A dark guy in a cowl slid into the drivers seat as the largest dude jumped into the truck bed. "Punch it, Wykkyd!"

I felt my stomach lurch as the entire truck seemed to flash forward and reappear outside the encampment.

"Wha' tha fuck just happened!?" I shrieked.

The guy called Wykkyd hit the accelerator and the truck shot off down the dirt road. There was a roar behind us and I squinted to take a look. A fifteen foot tall man made of concrete was chasing us. The ground shook as he thundered down the road. There was another roar and behind the concrete guy was a large purple blob that seemed to be chasing us as well. A large number of armored assault vehicles poured out of the camp entrance, one with the unmistakable figure of Hive manning the machine gun. His bloody face looked demonic.

"That fucking Hive!" Jinx hissed, "We'd be home free if he'd just stayed down!"

"What did you do to him?" Gizmo yelled, staring behind us, "I didn't think that scuzz-face could get that pissed!"

"I knocked in all his front teeth!"

A large bearded face appeared at the rear window. It grinned.

"Atta girl, sister!"

Jinx looked at me. "Just so you know," she pointed at Wykkyd, "That's Kid Wykkyd," she pointed at the big guy in back, "and that's Mammoth, Gizmo you already met." She grinned wildly. "We are the legendary H.I.V.E. Five!"

"But there's only four of you..." I said.

Jinx dropped down in her seat, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "Why does everyone insist on pissing in my cornflakes?" She glanced behind us again. "Mammoth, can you do anything about Cinderblock?"

"Yeah sure, I always pack an MBT LAW launcher when I travel."

The big guy lifted up a large tube-like weapon. I blinked.

"What the fuck is that?"

Mammoth gave me a funny look. "It's a fucking MBT LAW launcher, dipshit! I said I always pack one when I travel!" He raised the weapon and sighted the digital scope. "Ok blockhead, look in the camera!"

The rear window shattered from the exhaust as a large missile fired out of the launcher. Wykkyd yanked the wheel hard to keep control of the truck as the rest of us were showered in broken glass. The missile impacted dead center of Cinderblock's chest and the explosion sent him tumbling like a ragdoll backwards where he took out the top half of Plasmus.

"Aww yeah!" Mammoth crowed.

The armored assault vehicles came charging up the truck's ass.

"You got any more heavy weapons back there, Mammoth?" Jinx yelled behind us.

"Sorry, this launcher was the only thing I grabbed."

Gunfire began to rip through the air around us as Wykkyd danced the truck back and forth. Jinx shoved me under the dash. "Stay the fuck down! Us big kids are gonna handle this!"

Jinx climbed out of the cab while Wykkyd steered. A blast of pink energy flew from her hand and hit the dirt road in front of one of the lead pursuit vehicles. A sink hole suddenly opened up and the armored car fell in nose first, flipping itself ass over teakettle. The other pursuing cars danced around the rolling vehicle almost in unison.

"What the fuck does it take to stop these guys?" Mammoth yelled from the back. I tried to climb back out from under the dash when Gizmo put his foot on my head and pushed me back down.

"Keep yer frackin' scuzz-fucking head down, moron!" The diminutive genius pressed a few buttons on his controller and series of rockets suddenly shot out of his backpack, through the shattered rear window, and exploded against two more pursuit vehicles.

Jinx cursed loudly and fired another pink hex at some of the trees on either side of the dirt road. Several trees suddenly fell down and smashed into a few more cars.

"That'll teach them!" Jinx grinned.

Machinegun fire erupted from several more of the armored cars and Wykkyd yanked the wheel side to side to avoid the truck being hit. Then like in slow motion, I saw a bullet tear through Jinx's shoulder. Her face became surprised and her grip slipped. Without thinking, I shoved Gizmo aside and lunged out the window, grabbing Jinx's hand. I pulled her in through the window and she landed on top of Gizmo. I gripped her hand tightly.

"Jinx!" I cried, "Jinx! Are you alright?"

The pink sorceress gritted her teeth. "Stop yelling into my face, asshole." She touched the wound on her shoulder. "It went clean through. I'll live." She looked back at me. "Thanks for the save." Jinx looked over at Wykkyd. "Wykkyd, how about some more evasive action?"

The dark former H.I.V.E. member grimaced at us under his cowl. Then lifted one hand and jerked the wheel with the other. I felt my stomach lurch again as the entire truck displaced and reappeared on the other side of the road. The gunfire started to concentrate on us again when Wykkyd teleported us once more. He shifted us side to side with his portals, deftly avoiding the gunfire.

"I'm gonna be fucking sick!" Mammoth moaned from the back. Wykkyd opened another portal and this time we reappeared a hundred feet further away from our pursuers. Jinx was starting to bleed heavily from her shoulder.

"Motherfucker!" Jinx was hissing. She grasped at her shoulder, trying to staunch the blood. I began to apply pressure on her wound to slow the bleeding. Jinx looked at me, her pale face was sweaty but serious. "We should almost be at the meeting spot! If the Titans aren't there... we're pretty much fucked cold!"

"RPG!" Mammoth yelled. He dived to the bottom of the truck bed as Wykkyd yanked the wheel and teleported us again as a rocket blasted through the space we had just occupied.

Gizmo suddenly poked my shoulder roughly. He was grinning and pointing up. "Look! There's your girl!"

Up ahead, a dark and vengeful goddess descended from the heavens, surrounded by a massive dark aura in the shape of a black bird. The goddess' eyes glowed a bright white and with a motion of her hands, the car pursuing us were plucked from the road and torn apart, each half flying in the opposite direction of the other. The occupants of the destroyed vehicles were grabbed and smashed against the trees. Then furious green starbolts tore into the other cars as a second vengeful goddess rocketed down from the sky.

Wykkyd slammed on the brakes and we skidded to a halt as a bunch of other superheroes poured out of the woods on either side of the road. I thought I recognized Robin by his brightly colored uniform, but the rest were too blurry. The passenger door of the truck was suddenly enveloped in black energy and ripped from the side of the truck and Raven stood there staring at me. At my pitiful state. Filthy, injured, bloody, still trying to staunch the blood flow from Jinx's shoulder.

"Hi Raven," I grinned a gap-toothed smile, "I knew you'd come for me."

Then I passed out as the adrenaline finally wore off.

* * *

The next few days I drifted in and out of consciousness. At times I thought I could feel gentle hands on my face and other times I felt nothing and saw nothing. Finally, I opened my eyes. I wasn't sure where I was. It certainly wasn't the Titan's infirmary. I turned my head and noticed the IV drip connected to my arm. Reaching up, I felt my face. My beard was completely gone, cleanly shaved. But my face felt normal. I could breathe easily through my nose again and both my eyes were working. My ribs also were no longer hurting and I reveled in taking deep pain-free breaths. I was still missing one of my bottom teeth though, but it no longer felt painful or infected.

"Good morning," I heard a familiar raspy female voice say. I looked as someone leaned over and put my spare pair of glasses on my face. Everything snapped into focus after so long.

"Raven?"

My favorite Titan had settled back into her chair after putting my glasses back on me. She had her usual non-plussed look, but I could see her eyes were slightly red and puffy.

"How long was I out for?" I asked.

"Three days."

"Everything's a blur." I studied Raven's face, committing everything to memory lest this turn out to be another dream. Well, she was clothed, so the likelihood of it being reality was pretty strong. "Did you stay there this entire time?"

"Yes." She seemed subdued and tired. Her face remained unreadable.

I sat up. "I feel like a million bucks. Like I didn't have the shit kicked out of me by a yellow-headed cock-hammock." I looked at her again. "Did you heal me?"

"Yes," she repeated.

"Raven," I began, "You have no idea how much I missed you. I'm sorry I got kid-"

"Just, shut up." She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. Her hands felt cool to the touch. "Just shut. The hell. Up." Then Raven was out, half laying on the bed with my hand grasped near her face. I heard her breathing become slow and I saw her face relax as she fell asleep.

"She hasn't left your side for three days," I heard another familiar feminine voice say. I looked up and saw Jinx standing there. She had a half-grin on her face and her arm was in a sling. "Raven is one crazy bitch."

"Jinx," I said softly, so as not to disturb the sleeping dark Titan, "Thanks for saving my life."

"You saved mine in the truck," Jinx replied, "so we're technically even. Plus I was just doing what I'm supposed to do, that's all."

"But still, thank you, for my life."

The pink sorceress nodded. "I'll see you around, Goldman. Take care of yourself."

* * *

Jinx walked out of the private infirmary and headed towards where she could see Gizmo arguing with another costumed hero. After spending all that time in the jungle, Bogota was like a slice of paradise and Jinx wanted to explore before having to return to her humdrum life of waiting for shit to happen.

"Hey slowpoke," a voice sounded right behind her. Jinx grinned and turned around, throwing her arm around Kid Flash's neck. She hugged him as tightly as she could with one arm in a sling. He hugged her back, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around like a child. Jinx laughed and wrapped her arms and legs around the speedster.

"I missed you, Wally," she murmured, looking down into his face.

His lips met hers and he kissed her deeply.

"I missed you too... Pokey."

Jinx frowned at him. "I'm never going to do one of these retarded undercover missions again. Fuck this."

Kid Flash grinned and kissed her again until she almost began to purr like a cat.

"Robin wants you on his team," he said finally.

Jinx blinked. "Seriously? He wants me on his team? At the main Tower? Really?"

"Yup, no more bussing tables or doing whatever to earn money. You're gonna be a real full-time Titan... if you want to be."

Jinx glanced over at Gizmo again.

"What about my other former colleagues?"

Kid Flash shrugged and let Jinx back down on her feet. "If they're interested in becoming honorary Titans, I'm sure something can be arranged."

Jinx frowned again. "Does Robin still have communicators left? Or did he give those to the mailman too?"

Kid Flash chuckled. "Anything is possible, slowpoke." He grinned at the pink sorceress. "I think we need to go get something to eat. You haven't had anything until you've had genuine bandeja paisa in Bogota!"

* * *

I watched Raven sleep. Her face was almost child-like in its innocence. I gently reached out and moved some of her purple hair out of her face and lightly stroked her soft cheek. Her grip on my hand had relaxed slightly, but I was unwilling to let go. The door to the room opened and Robin and Starfire came in. Starfire looked genuinely happy and her eyes glowed as she floated over to the side of my bed.

"I am happy to see you well again, Friend Mark," Starfire said softly, glancing down at the sleeping Raven.

Robin looked at me. "How are you feeling?" he asked in a whisper.

"I feel great," I replied. I looked at both Robin and Starfire for a moment longer. "Thank you, for coming for me." I paused, remembering. "How is Beast Boy? Was he alright?"

Robin glanced at Starfire before answering. "He almost bled out, but he's doing well. Won't be walking for a little while, but Vic thinks he should be alright."

"Robin," I began, "Do I still have a job?"

"Of course you do. We were more worried that you wouldn't want to come back."

I shrugged. "Getting kidnapped at gunpoint, taken to South America, and having the shit beat out of me, well, I'll just say it's not an experience I want to repeat. But there's no way I'd give up this sweet gig." I glanced down at the sleeping Raven. "No way at all." I finished softly.

Robin smiled. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Jinx. I was thinking she'd make a great addition to the team, but I wanted to get your opinion on her performance. How would you rate her?"

I blinked at him. "That crazy pink-haired goth chick saved my life. She's abrasive, sarcastic, belittling, but... she's amazing. I'd rate her very highly."

Raven sat up, her eyes half-closed. She shook her head and noticed Robin and Starfire. She stared at them.

"How long were you two here for?"

"Long enough, sister Raven," Starfire said gently.

Raven blinked. Then she stood up, letting my hand go. "I need to get some rest and a shower before we head home." She looked at me and her face softened slightly. "Melvin missed you a lot, Mark."

She gave me a small smile. Then she raised her hood and left the room.

"I believe sister Raven has missed you a lot too," Starfire said with a smile.

"Yeah, me too," I said softly. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I felt my face turning red.

I was happy.


	9. Chapter 9

_Gave this a lot of thought and decided to cut out the lemon. Yes, the original version of this chapter had a sex scene that I was pretty proud of. However, if I kept it in, I'd need to change the story rating to 'M'. Normally I wouldn't be bothered by doing that, except FF defaults browsing to T and below, which means 'M' rated stories are hidden by default. I'd like my work to be seen by as many people as possible, so I felt that this behaviour would limit my audience._

 _If you want to read the original lemon, feel free to PM me and I'll happily send it to you. Maybe I'll trade it for a review. :-)_

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** I still don't own these characters, except for Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

"Hey Penisaurus! Knock anything over lately?"

I turned from my monitor and blinked at the person responsible for breaking my attention. Jinx stood leaning in my office door grinning. She was back in her customary goth-loli outfit and her hair was like a large pair of bull horns that swept from one side of her head to the other. I still couldn't figure out how she got her hair to do that. I hesitated as my brain parsed what she had said, then my face got hot.

"Hey, could you stop calling me that?" I asked with a huff.

Jinx sauntered in and planted herself in my guest chair.

"I can't promise to do that," she replied, "it's just too damned funny."

It had been a week since we returned from Colombia. Jinx had been offered a position on the original Titans team and she had taken it up with obvious enthusiasm. I had kind of considered her induction to be a Titan's thing and not really involving me. I will admit that I genuinely liked the pink sorceress. Jinx had an absolutely wicked sense of humor and the fact that she had saved my life kind of endeared her to me.

I was less enthusiastic about Jinx being assigned the room next door to my own. Especially when Kid Flash visited as the sounds of them fucking were loud enough to be heard through the thick walls. It sounded like a pile-driver being run at high speed over Jinx's cries of passion. Then a grinning Kid Flash would appear shirtless at my door to say hello while Jinx was catching her breath, then he'd disappear back into her room when she started yelling for him and the noise and moans would resume. I seriously did not want to know what she and the speedster were doing. I had been considering sleeping in the main operations room whenever Kid Flash was around.

I saved the code I had been working on and turned to face the pink girl sitting across from me.

"So what do you want, Jinx?"

"I'm bored. Amuse me."

I blinked. "So what, you 'tink I'm here to amuse you? You 'tink I'm funny or sumthin'?"

Jinx clapped her hands. "Jimmy Peski from 'GoodGuys,' right?"

"Yup!" I cocked my head. "So where's Kid Flash?"

Jinx leaned forward onto the edge of my desk and rested her head on one pink-nailed hand, affecting a bored look.

"He had to go to Central City this morning. Don't know when he'll be back." She gazed at my face for a moment. "You know, now that I see your face without the injuries and shit..."

"Yeah?"

"You should definitely grow that beard back. Makes your face look less fat."

I frowned at her. My face was certainly scruffy as I was actually growing back my beard, but I wasn't going to admit that I thought she was right.

"Gee, thanks."

My door opened again and I felt my frown vanish to be replaced by a wide smile. Raven stood in the doorway, enveloped by her cloak, but her hood was down. She glanced at Jinx with an arched eyebrow.

"Hey Rae!" Jinx turned and waved. "Just talkin' with your boyfriend here." Jinx's face grew mischievous. "I was just wondering how you could even still walk after getting railed by his weapon of mass destruction."

Raven's eyes widened and she glanced at me. I held up my hands and shook my head.

"First, my name is RAVEN, not 'Rae,'" Raven said calmly, "and second, I was wondering why you still haven't friction burned to death after getting jack-hammered by one of the the fastest men on earth."

I smiled inwardly at the fact that Raven hadn't correct Jinx first about me being her boyfriend.

Jinx stared at Raven for a moment, then her face cracked and she laughed.

"Touche! And for the record, we use LOTS of lube! Also, you sure ain't denying the railing comment!" Jinx jerked her thumb at me. "I've seen the shit this guy is packing. Girl could get hurt, ya know!"

Raven's gaze hardened slightly as she looked back at me. My own eyes were widened and I felt briefly like a rabbit caught by a mountain lion.

"Oh, you've seen it, hmm?"

Jinx put me out of my misery. "Oh relax, Rae. I caught a glimpse when he was changing clothes just before our big escape last week. But seriously, it's some scary shit."

I was getting annoyed at that point. "Ok, can we stop talking about my AVERAGE-SIZED equipment here? It's embarrassing!"

Jinx turned and stuck her tongue out at me. "Oh just admit you get turned on by a couple of cute girls talkin' about your junk!"

"Not particularly," I grumbled.

The pink sorceress stood up and stretched sinuously like a cat.

"Well, I can see that I'm a bit of a third wheel here. I'll let you lovebirds be alone." She gave me a wink. "I'll talk to you later, supa-fly!"

Raven watched as Jinx left my office. Her face was unreadable, which as far as Raven goes, was pretty normal. Since I got back to the Tower, my office had become a bit of a random hangout for bored Titans, though usually not all at once. But I hadn't seen much of Raven, so for her to show up at my office was like a holiday event for me. It was Thursday afternoon and I had gotten little done, especially since I was still waiting for Monica in the Watchtower to restore my network access. I hadn't heard much from the other datacenter managers, other than Dana who congratulated me for not dying. It was a bit annoying to think that I had seen Jinx more over the week than any other Titan. Granted, Raven had seen me at my very worst, with a fucked up face and reeking of piss and five days of accumulated grime. It made me feel more than a little self-conscious when talking to her.

My other time had been occupied by puzzling through my dental insurance to see if I would be covered for a dental implant. I really hated having a gap in my bottom teeth.

Raven sat down in the guest chair that Jinx had vacated. She still kept her cloak around herself, which for some reason made me even more interested in seeing her sexy sexy legs, though I had gotten much better at hiding my leg gawking from her. I figured she probably still knew that I liked looking at her in uniform. Nothing got by Raven.

"I had a couple of things I needed to speak with you about," Raven began. She opened her cloak and handed me her tablet. I looked at it.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Well, first I wanted you to review my character... for tonight."

I blinked at her, then I grinned. "You made a character for C&M? That's awesome!"

Raven arched an eyebrow at me. "Of course I made a character. But the character classes offered by the player's guide just didn't meet my expectations. So I created a unique player class."

I blinked again. "Come again?"

"I went through all available classes," Raven continued, "and did some online research. I think what I've created here is a good combination of available feats and abilities as well as character traits and disadvantages."

I scrolled through her tablet. Raven had written a complete description and overview as well as ability requirements for the class she had made, which she had called a 'sword dancer.' I was dumbfounded as I read through the levels table, the attacks table, the feats list as well as pre-requisite feats, level progression, etc. Everything was fair, equitable, and completely bad-ass for a melee fighter. I was completely blown away. I put her tablet down and stared at her in awe.

"Unbelievable," I murmured, "You and Starfire... and neither of you have played C&M before." I shook my head. "The two of you have completely mastered all aspects of the game and you haven't even played yet!"

Raven arched her eyebrow at me again. "My character is the last few pages."

I picked up the tablet again and scrolled through to Raven's actual character. She had named her character 'Lucy,' and 'Lucy' was incredible and completely legal in the game. Raven was another natural born min-maxer.

" _Klada-stork_ ," I muttered as I handed her the tablet back.

Raven arched an eyebrow at me. "Come again?"

"It's nothing. Anyway, you have to show that to Vic. He's gonna shit a mechanical sheep when he sees it."

Raven gave me a small smile at that comment. "The other thing I needed to mention to you," she said, "Robin wants us to gather together in the main operations center at 8pm. Said he had an announcement that he wanted to make."

"Any idea what that's all about?" I asked.

Raven shrugged. "I'm not sure. Robin's a hard man to read at times." She stood up. "I should get going."

I stood up too. "You don't have to leave, you know..."

Raven looked at me for a moment, her face composed and unreadable. "I was curious about this, but how did Jinx find out about what happened between us?"

I could hear the implied threat in Raven's tone of voice. I gulped.

"Uh, she said she saw some surveillance video... of you and me... in an alley way."

Raven blinked. "A surveillance video?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't have told her anything about it. She sort of, surmised, I guess."

"I see. I'll have to look into this."

Raven raised her hood and turned to open my office door. She paused in the doorway. "One more thing," she suddenly said. She opened her cloak and put her hand on her hip as she stretched out one gloriously sexy leg. "Am I still Lady Legasus to you?"

I had to push my jaw shut as I ran my eyes up and down her leg, memorizing the shape and position for later recall.

"Fuck. Yes."

I caught a glimpse of a smile from under Raven's hood as her cloak closed back around her leg like a curtain.

"Good. I'll see you later." A black portal opened up and Raven was gone.

I fell back into my seat. One thought was echoing in my brain.

 _DEM LEGS._

* * *

Eight o'clock rolled around and I found myself hanging out in the main operations room. I had closed up shop earlier than normal since after seeing Raven's awesome leg, I needed to go back to my room and uh... take care of some important business. Melvin had been curious as to what I was up to, so I ended up locking him out of my bathroom. Man just needs his own space sometimes.

At 8:01, we all noticed a new figure in the main operations center. He wore all black with a dark blue image of a bird emblazoned on his chest and matching belt and gloves. I did a double take when I realized it was Robin.

"I just wanted to make this quick," Robin said, "As of today, I've assumed a new identity. I felt that the identity of Robin was no longer appropriate for me as I am now older and there is actually a new Robin being trained in Gotham by Batman." He gestured at his costume. "I've been waiting to reveal this new uniform and now that the most recent crisis is mostly over, it seemed like a good time to do this. My new designation will be Nightwing."

Starfire clapped with glee, and soon everyone was gathered around the Titans leader and congratulating him.

"Dude," Beast Boy said as he looked the costume up and down, "That outfit is totally the bomb."

"Yeah dude," Cyborg offered, "totally bad-ass."

"You look good, Ro.. I mean, Nightwing," Raven agreed.

Starfire wrapped her arms around Nightwing. "You look almost like I remember you!" She pulled back to smile and gaze into Nightwing's masked eyes. "Will you be doing the growing out of the hair as well?"

Nightwing shrugged and grinned. "I don't know. I'm kind of attached to the spiked hair look."

I reached out and shook Nightwing's hand. "Dude, you totally own the night now. Congrats on the new thing!"

Jinx paced around Nightwing, looking him up and down and smirking. "Well, you certainly do fill that outfit out real well." She looked behind him. "Especially in the ass area. Really shows off those steely buttocks now that there's no cape covering it up."

Starfire frowned at the pink sorceress. "You would be well advised to not stare too much at my boyfriend's steely buttocks, friend Jinx."

Jinx grinned and put her hands up.

"I'm not trying to muscle in, Star," she said, "but it's hard look away. I mean, they're like _right there_."

Nightwing's face was turning beet red. He opened his mouth to say something when Beast Boy cut him off.

"Hey guys, I'm sure you'd love to talk about Ro- I mean Nightwing's ass all night, but are we gonna play or what?" Beast Boy pointed at the stack of steaming pizzas on the counter. "I'm starving already and I'm dying to kill some stuff!"

Jinx frowned at the green changeling. "What are you playing?"

"C&M, mama!" Beast Boy grinned, "We do it every Thursday night!"

"C&M?" Jinx made a gagging motion. "Ugh, no way! I think I'm just gonna go out and do something social!" She turned to leave. "Nerd games... ick!"

Cyborg seated himself at the head of the table and set up the cave master screen. He tapped his arm display and the large screen opened up with a map. Then he rubbed his metal hands together.

"You heard the lady! Let the nerd games begin! Got a lot to cover before I kill all your characters! Beast Boy, bring over the pizza and lets get started!"

* * *

 _On our way back to the city of Cauldron, our party was accosted by an armed group of orcs. Whilst I still dwelt in the dark lands of the dead, my spirit watched over my friends. Though I was wont to aid them, the dead could not help the living. I was surprised when two beautiful strangers stepped in and aided my party in defeating the foul orcs._

 _They introduced themselves to us as Kori'andr the battle mage and Lucy, Kori'andr's sword dancer bodyguard._

 _"May we travel with you, friends?" Kori'andr asked. The party was stunned by her sheer beauty._

 _"Of course, my dear!" Hrothgar said with a wide smile and a gallant bow, "We could certainly use the help since two of our party were cut down."_

 _"Where are you headed?" Lucy asked._

 _"We're going to Cauldron to get our friends resurrected!" Kart offered._

* * *

Raven smirked at me. "I almost forgot. You were dead, weren't you?"

I frowned. "Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated. Also, calling us dead is insensitive. We are simply the mortally challenged!"

"Dude, you are such a liberal!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

* * *

 _The warrior Lucy approached my corpse and raised my head._

 _"Not very comely," Lucy spoke, "but beind dead for a day probably does not help his physical disposition."_

 _Kori'andr examined my other compatriot in death. "It saddens me to see one so young in such a state," she said of Gwen. "We will certainly help speed you to Cauldron so that you may return your friends to the full semblance of this glorious life!"  
_

* * *

I stood up from the table and got a beer from Cyborg's stash in the fridge. Being dead left me with nothing to do except wait for the rest of the party to get to Cauldron and resurrect my character.

"Mark, I'll take one of those-," Nightwing began. Starfire cut him off with a surprised stare. "Boyfriend Nightwing, are you not still of the underage?"

"-Except I'm still underaged," Nightwing finished lamely, "so never mind."

"You could try to bribe the CM for a level," Cyborg said, holding out a metal hand. I sighed and handed him my beer.

"Do I get that level now?" I asked.

Cyborg looked up at me. "I said you could try but I never promised it would work, foo'."

"I'll take another root beer, Mark," Beast Boy said.

"Indeed, I would request a beer of root as well!" Starfire added.

"Make me some earl grey," Raven said with a smirk, "and I'll be nicer to you in game."

I frowned at the Teen Titans.

"Y'all want me to fetch you your slippers and make you some sammiches while I'm at it?"

Nightwing looked up at me, his eyebrows up high.

"Could you really, Mark? I could use a good steak sammich and my feet are cold!"

I flipped open a pizza box. "Here's some tofu pizza. I think you know which hole you can stuff it into."

* * *

We concluded playing at around 1am. At the very least, Nightwing's other character, Gwen was resurrected. Resurrecting Mort proved to be more challenging as Hrothgar flubbed his dice rolls for his custom cantrip and Mort came back as the screaming undead. The party killed me again and had to wait another day in game before attempting to resurrect me again. The second time was successful.

Starfire was putting her pink dice into a dice bag. Apparently she had ordered them online and got them in during the week I was, uh, away. However, in my opinion, the winner of the sexiest dice award went to Raven, and it wasn't because I was biased. She had a set made from ebony and highlighted in gold. They actually looked expensive.

"I found them on a Jumpstart campaign," Raven said, "They're hand carved."

Beast Boy frowned at her. "You totally cast some kind of luck spell on those. How else did you keep getting such good rolls tonight?"

Raven returned Beast Boy's frown. "First of all, I would not demean my skills in the art by casting spells on DICE. Second of all, I did roll a few bad rolls. It's not my fault you rolled badly most of the night."

Beast Boy turned to put away his own dice. "Meh, my dice are cursed then."

"Also not my fault."

"Good game tonight, guys!" Cyborg interrupted them. He grinned at Raven and Starfire. "You two really came through. Understood the mechanics, created awesome characters, and embraced the role-playing aspect really really well!" He put up his metal thumbs. "Y'all earned the Cyborg Thumbs Up award!"

"Yeah," Beast Boy admitted, "You two were on top."

Nightwing leaned over and grinned as he whispered something into Starfire's ear. The Tamaranean princess blushed and smiled widely at the same time as she looked into Nightwing's eyes. She gave him a nod.

"Welp, it was definitely a good game," Nightwing said with a pleasant smile, "Time to head to bed. Training tomorrow." He held out his hand and Starfire accepted it, still grinning and blushing. Then the two of them left the room.

"I don't even want to know," Beast Boy groused. He picked up his stuff. "G'night you guys!" Then he left as well.

Cyborg finished his beer, let out a loud belch, and stood up with his own stuff.

"Good night you two," Cyborg said with a grin, "Don't stay up late now!" He then followed Beast Boy.

Raven stood with her books and characters in a neat bundle under her arm. She finished her tea and put the empty cup into the sink. Then she looked at me. I was expecting a good night, so I opened my mouth to wish her the same.

"Do you want to hang out for a little while?" Raven asked.

I closed my mouth in surprise.

"Hang out? Y-yeah! Yeah, lets hang out," I responded with as much class as I could muster.

Raven nodded. "I'll meet you at your room then. I just want to put my stuff away." She opened a dark portal and vanished.

I practically ran all the way down to my room. I quickly picked up my loose laundry from the floor and dropped it into my hamper. Then I quickly made my bed, annoying Melvin who had been resting comfortably there. I heard a light knock on my door as I was cleaning my toilet. I quickly washed my hands and ran back to my door to open it. Raven stood there with her cloak still on and her hood down. She glided into my room, closing the door behind herself, and arched an eyebrow at the state of cleanliness.

"I wasn't exactly expecting guests," I said lamely, "Otherwise I'd have vacuumed and dusted."

"Mark," Raven began, "I'm sorry if I seemed distant this week."

"It's cool, I figured you were busy with stuff."

Raven shook her head. "Not exactly. Let me have your hand for a moment."

I reached out and she took my hand. Then she touched my fingers to her pulse point under her jaw. My eyes widened. Raven's heart was hammering away at high speed.

"You completely freak me out," Raven said softly, "my heart now races, my stomach does back flips. I was more anxious than I've ever felt in my entire life last week. And when I saw you in that truck, I was almost overwhelmed with worry."

"Raven..." I said softly.

Raven put her other finger to my lips and frowned. "Just shut up and let me finish." She closed her eyes. "I don't know if this is love, affection, or even just infatuation, and it's honestly unnerving and annoying. It's taken me lots of meditation to keep from destroying things accidentally. But I think I'd like to try exploring these feelings a bit. With you."

"Raven," I said, taking her finger away from my lips, "are you saying you want to go out with me?"

"You make it sound so juvenile, but yes. I am saying that."

I cupped her cheek and she focused her amethyst eyes on mine.

"I'd really like that," I murmured. I leaned forward and kissed her. Raven stiffened at first, then I felt her arms wrap around my waist and the kiss deepened. I finally pulled back and gazed into her eyes again. "You know, while I was lying in that hot little cell, I swore I was dreaming about you talking to me."

"You weren't dreaming. I was searching for you. That's how we found out that Jinx was there. You told me."

"Yeah, well," I said sheepishly, "There were other times when I dreamt about you and you didn't speak."

"Oh? What was I doing?"

"You were dancing," I said quietly, "in a pool of moonlight. Just moving and swaying like a dark moon goddess."

Raven arched eyebrow at that. "Sounds beautiful."

"Did I mention you were mostly naked?"

"Try not to kill the mood."

I sat down on my bed and drew Raven into my lap.

"Would you think less of me if I told you that I want you to spend the rest of the night here with me?"

Raven unclasped her cloak and tossed it onto the bed behind me. Then she took my hand and placed it onto her bare thigh. It definitely felt as good as it looked.

"I don't know, Mark. Would you think any less of me if I told you that I planned on spending the rest of the night here?"

I hugged her tightly and looked up into her face.

"Am I dreaming?" I asked.

"You had better be awake."

She climbed off of me and stood up. Then she reached over to her cloak and took out a small red vial.

"I need to cast a spell first," Raven said.

I arched an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"It's a barrier spell. It will keep me from... well... destroying anything by accident."

I glanced over at my replacement big screen tv on the wall. It really was the only thing I'd be concerned about being destroyed. Well, that and Melvin, obviously. Apparently when I was kidnapped, my kidnappers had done a good job of trashing my room. Fortunately the JLU covered the costs of replacing broken stuff, but I didn't relish the idea of anything being broken again. Though it would be totally worth it.

I stood up. "Cast away, Lady Legasus."

Raven nodded. Then she murmured "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," and my bed was enveloped in a nimbus of dark energy. It floated to the middle of my room and I ducked as it passed over me. Then Raven opened the red vial and started tapping out a circle of red dust around the space my bed normally sat. When she finished, she raised her hands and murmured another series of words. The red circle began to glow. Melvin stopped trying to jump up on my floating bed and watched the glowing circle with interest. After a moment, Raven floated my bed back to where it belonged and placed it back on the floor.

I eyed the red powder. "You think that stuff would bother Melvin?"

Raven shook her head. "Actually, the side effect of that stuff is that Melvin won't come anywhere near the bed now. We can just vacuum it up in the morning."

I kicked off my shoes and swept Raven up in my arms. For such an imposing presence, she weighed next to nothing. Raven looked at me in surprise. Then I paused for a moment.

"I just realized that I don't have any condoms or anything."

Raven arched an eyebrow at me. "You think this is a problem now? It's a bit late for either of us to be worried about STDs and I'm still on oral contraceptives."

I smiled back at her. "I guess that's the last barrier for us then."

"Indeed."

I carried her to the bed and stepped into the mystical barrier ring.

* * *

The sunlight streaming in from my windows woke me up. I briefly wondered if the events of the previous night had been just a dream again, then I noticed Raven sprawled half on my chest and sleeping soundly. She felt warm and naked and I could feel myself getting excited again. Then I heard something buzzing from the floor. I reached out and put my glasses on, then looked at the floor. Melvin was curled up sleeping on Raven's cloak and something was buzzing beneath it. Looking up I also noticed that the rest of my overhead light fixtures were now blackened smudges on the ceiling and it looked like one of my chairs had exploded its stuffing all over the room.

Yeah, Raven definitely needed to re-assess that containment spell.

"Raven," I whispered, stroking her bare shoulders, "honey, I think your communicator is buzzing."

Raven sat up and stretched. I got a great eyeful of her assets and briefly considered taking her down for another round before wondering if my room could handle it. Then she looked at me.

"We will need to work on that whole 'terms of endearment' thing," she said, "I'd rather not be called 'honey' if we can help it."

I shrugged. "Ok, how about sweetums?"

"No."

"Sugar-pie?"

"No."

"Sweetheart?"

"No."

"My Lady Legasus?"

"If you call me that in front of anyone else, I will not be responsible for my actions."

"Point taken, how about Love-muffin?"

Raven shoved me down on the bed and put her finger to my lips. "Just shut up with the pet names already," she said with a distinct twinkle in her eye. She got up and reached under her cloak for her communicator and flipped it on to audio only mode.

"This is Raven."

"Nightwing here. Why do you have the video off?"

"I don't want you seeing my bedhead."

"Well, get yourself together. Training is canceled this morning. Jinx never came back to the Tower last night."

I sat up at that. Jinx could indeed be a caustic pain, but she actually was likeable and I considered her to be my friend, especially since she saved my life.

"Nightwing," Raven said, "Do you think it's possible that she simply spent the night somewhere?"

"Is Jinx the type to do that?" Nightwing countered.

Raven glanced at me. "No, she's not. I know she's definitely smitten with Wally. She wouldn't go off and do something questionable. Especially now that she's a full fledged Titan."

"I have a GPS signal for her," Nightwing said, "so get cleaned up and come with me and Vic. You can't stay in bed with Mark."

Raven's eyes widened.

"Ok, how the hell-?"

Nightwing's image on the communicator grinned. "Detective, remember? Also, you were quite loud."

Raven's face, for the first time I ever saw her, turned fire engine red. I could also feel my own face burning.

* * *

"Rishe and shine, shweetheart."

Jinx opened her eyes. Her body was hurting pretty badly and her hands seemed bound up by something. Her cheek hurt fiercely and her mouth was sore. She ran her tongue over her teeth and found at least two that felt loose. She looked up.

Hive was kneeling in front of the pink sorceress and he was grinning. his mouth was a mess of wires and it looked like all his front teeth had been replaced with metal, giving him an even more sinister appearance.

"Are you fucking kidding?" Jinx growled, "Why the fuck aren't you rotting in some Colombian jail?"

"That'sh becaush I'm much more wily than you give me credit for."

"You sound like a retard."

Hive frowned and grabbed Jinx's jaw, pulling her to her knees and giving it a painful squeeze.

"You little bitch. I'm gonna enjoy pulling every tooth out of your preshious little head with the pliersh that come with my swissh army knife."

Jinx gave Hive an evil grin.

"So what are you waiting for? Why aren't you already splitting me like a banana and fucking me silly, mushmouth?"

Hive stood up, then backhanded Jinx across the face. She fell over and saw stars when her head bounced off the wall. Hive grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back to her knees. Jinx shook her head and glowered at the self-proclaimed captain.

"Is that why you always tie your victims up? So you can slap them around like some kind of big man?" Jinx spat some blood to the floor. "On behalf of women everywhere, we're not fucking impressed."

"To anshwer your question, I'm hoping to catch your little buddy Gizshmo. He'sh far more valuable than you. But firsht, lemme take a shelfie. Let'sh get your makeup on."

Hive grabbed Jinx by the hair again and hammered his fist into her nose. Jinx felt an explosion of pain as her nose broke and she cried out as the pain briefly blinded her.

"Hmm... oh yeah," Hive said, "a little exshtra red for thoshe white lipsh." He squeezed her face around her nose, forcing more blood to flow out until her mouth and chin were covered. Jinx fought back the tears.

Hive kneeled down next to Jinx and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight. Then he held up the phone in selfie mode and grinned.

"Shmile now!" CLICK.

Hive stood up, grinning maniacally at the image on his phone. "'Hangin' with my bff, Jinxshie!'" He said as he typed on the screen.

Jinx spat out more blood. "You fuggin' bastard," she growled, "I'm gonna kill you."

Hive sat down at a small table and Jinx took the opportunity to examine her surroundings. It looked like some kind of basement, with sunlight coming in from some windows that were near the low ceiling. The table Hive sat down at had a small electronic box with a steady red light and the contents of her small backpack spread out, which had consisted of her T-communicator, her wallet, and her brass knuckles (never left home without them). Jinx assumed the electronic box was an inhibitor, since if her powers were actually working, she'd be using them to stop Hive's heart.

"How did you guys... manage to fin' me?" Jinx spoke haltingly through the pain from her nose, "I don' remember a damned thig other than going to the movies."

Hive grinned his bizarre metal grin again. He held up his phone. Jinx squinted at the image. It looked like herself, standing in line at the concession stand. Some blonde girl's face was in the frame, wide-eyed and grinning. Hive turned the phone back to himself.

"'Isn't she like a shupervillain? OMG! They go to moviessh too?'" Hive read aloud. He looked back at the bound pink sorceress. "Shome idiot tweeted that pic. You should conshider wearing a dishguishe when out in public."

Jinx blinked. She wasn't sure what was more depressing; people still assuming she was a supervillain, or nobody knowing her name.

Hive's phone suddenly rang. The grin stayed on his face as he activated the speaker.

"Thish is Captain Hive."

"You scuzz-faced, pit-sniffin', dog-fucking, asshole." Gizmo's voice was soft. In Jinx's experience, Gizmo never really got angry. He spluttered and yelled a lot and would get annoyed, but she had never heard him sound genuinely angry. Every word Gizmo said on the phone felt like it dripped with an undercurrent of pure rage. "I'm going to make it my fuckin' religion to destroy you, Hive. I'm gonna pray every day in the Church of St-Fracking-Destroy-Hive and I'm gonna light a candle every fuckin' day. When I'm done with you, your fuckin' social security number, birthplace, childhood friends, fuckin' school records, credit history, EVERY FUCKING THING THAT MAKES YOU THAT MISERABLE PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT YOU GRIN AT IN THE MIRROR IN THE MORNING WILL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE TO EVERY FUCKING SCRIPT KIDDIE FROM HERE TO THE FUCKING SCUZZ-FACED MOON TO FUCK WITH!"

Hive's grin grew even wider. "I shee you got my pic attachment. I'm jusht getting shtarted. I knew a mashter hacker like you could track down my phone."

"...don't fucking hurt her."

"That dependsh on you, little guy."

The phone was silent for a moment. The Gizmo's voice sounded again.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to come back with me to the reshervation," Hive said, "Nobody givesh a shit about Jinxshie here, sho I'm pretty shertain nobody is gonna cry over her little pink corpshe... exshept you. You shee, you have value to the Brotherhood. Jinxsh doesh not. Do the math."

"Fine. Where are you?"

"I know I don't need to tell a shmart fella like you. If you can find my number from a pic, I'm sure you can find my location. Be here in one hour." Hive glanced at Jinx. "Otherwishe I'm gonna fuck her, take picsh, and send them to you, one by one."

"Gizmo!" Jinx yelled, "Fug this twat! Wreck his life! Just don' come here!"

Hive's yellow heel caught Jinx in the forehead and launched her backwards into the wall. Her head bounced again off the cinderblocks hard and she saw stars.

"Shut up," Hive growled. He lifted his phone. "One hour, hotshot." Then he hung up. He approached Jinx's sprawled body and looked at her for a moment. Then he raised his boot and slammed it down on Jinx's outstretched leg, just below her knee. Jinx shrieked in agony as she felt the bones snap.

"It'sh like you're built like a little bird," Hive grinned, "your bonesh just look sho eashy to shnap." He knelt down and pulled Jinx into a sitting position by the front of her dress. "Wish you had bigger titsh though. They'd be a nishe thing to play with right now." He backhanded her across the face, making her teeth rattle. "I really hope that little shit doeshn't show up. I really really do."

The tears flowed freely down Jinx's bruised cheeks.

* * *

Nightwing's communicator buzzed. They had jumped into the T-car as soon as Raven appeared and driven into the city. Now they were approximately two hours north of the city, still zooming in on the GPS signal from the device Nightwing had planted on Jinx. He flipped the communicator open, changing over from GPS tracker mode.

"Go ahead."

The face of Gizmo popped up. The diminutive inventor squinted at his communicator camera.

"Who the frackin' fuck are you?"

Nightwing sighed. "I'm Nightwing. Formerly Robin."

Gizmo blinked. "So... you're Robin?"

"I WAS Robin. Now I'm Nightwing."

"Whatever. Fucking Hive has Jinx."

Nightwing pointed at a road coming up. "Turn left here." He turned back to the communicator. "How do you know?"

An image downloaded to Nightwing's communicator and his eyes widened. It was a pic of Hive and a bloodied Jinx, like the yellow masked lunatic had taken a selfie of them together.

"He wants me to come there," Gizmo said, "to give myself up to the Brotherhood. Or he's gonna hurt Jinx worse."

"Gizmo, we are tracking Jinx by GPS. We're gonna get there soon and save her. So don't go there."

"How the frackin' fuck did he capture her?" Gizmo seethed, "Isn't she a fuckin' Teen Titan now? Aren't you assholes her new teammates?"

"Look," Nightwing said, "she went out on her own. We didn't realize anything was wrong until she didn't come back this morning."

Gizmo leaned in to the camera. "Lemme tell you something about Jinx that even SHE frackin' doesn't realize! She fuckin' HATES going out alone. She only does it when she's fuckin' lonely or feeling left out! When we were the frackin' H.I.V.E. Five, we fuckin' did EVERYTHING together, including kicking your fuckin' asses!"

Raven leaned forward from the back seat. "Gizmo, does Jinx like playing C&M?"

"C&M? She frackin' ran the scuzzin' campaigns!"

Raven glanced at Nightwing and Cyborg. "Gizmo, we are going to rescue her. She is our teammate. We'll just have to make sure she knows it."

"I'm fuckin' heading there anyway. Hive had better hope you get there before I do... because I'm gonna kill him."

The communicator disconnected and a text message showing an address popped up. Nightwing dragged the address to the GPS in the communicator and the location corresponded with the transmitted GPS signal.

"That went well," Cyborg commented, his eye on the road.

Nightwing glanced back at Raven. "How exactly have we been treating Jinx?"

Raven shrugged. "We haven't treated her badly, but we also haven't been going out of our ways to be nice to her. I guess I'm not surprised she might have been feeling alienated. The only one she seemed to talk to the most is Mark."

"You mean your 'boyfriend' Mark?" Cyborg grinned into the rearview mirror.

"Shut up, Vic," Raven replied, her face unchanged, "I'm genuinely worried about Jinx."

"Sorry."

"But if you must know... yes. Mark and I are officially a couple now."

Cyborg blinked. "Seriously? I mean really? You guys are really dating now?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at Nightwing who was remaining quiet. "Yes. Is it that hard to believe?"

"No no no... well, yes, a little bit." Cyborg glanced at Raven in the mirror again. "I mean, he's a civilian and a nerd... and not the most athletic fellow in the world..."

"He listens to me. Tries to understand me. And he..." Raven blushed slightly, causing Cyborg's human eye to widen. "he makes me... happy."

Cyborg smiled. "That's great, Rae. I'm really happy for you. Truly. You're like my little sister, you know? I just want you to be happy." He arched his eyebrow in the mirror at her. "On a side note, how many light fixtures am I replacing?"

"Um... let's talk about it later."

Nightwing arched his own eyebrow. "Let's get back to the mission at hand. Vic, I'm sending the address to the T-car."

Cyborg glanced at the large screen in the dash.

"We're five minutes away from there."

"Good, now we don't know what we're gonna find, so lets-"

Nightwing was cut off as Cyborg yanked the wheel with a curse and sent the T-car into a side skid. Gunfire rang out and bounced off the T-car's armored side. Raven phased through the door and brought up a shield of dark energy. The bullets impacted into the shield and vanished.

Nightwing and Cyborg jumped out of the car, ducking behind the shield.

"How many?" Nightwing yelled.

Raven chanted her mantra and moved her hand. On the other side of the shield, Nightwing saw several dark figures suddenly fly off to the side to impact against some parked cars.

"Six now," Raven said.

"Ok, I'm gonna break left. Vic, you break right." He lifted up a black bird-a-rang and grinned, "Do you still got the sonic?"

Cyborg grinned back, his arm re-configuring into his sonic cannon. "If you still got the boom!"

The two broke out from either side of Raven's shield and Cyborg fired his cannon down the street. "BOO-YAH!"

Nightwing launched his bird-a-rang into the sonic stream and four armed and armored assailants got caught in the explosion, sending them flying.

* * *

Hive looked up from Jinx's bloodied face. There was gunfire and explosions outside. He glanced down at the beaten pink sorceress. "Looksh like shome company showed up." he grabbed her injured jaw and turned her face. "When I get back, we'll get to work on pulling those peshky teeth."

Hive tapped his communicator. "Delta shquadron. Attack defenshe pattern shero." He walked over to the back of the room and picked up a heavy assault rifle. "Ok, Jinxshie. Time to go to work." He flashed his metal teeth at the prone sorceress. "Thish is what I've alsho been waiting for."


	10. Chapter 10

_I can hardly believe that I'm ten chapters into this pig. No idea why I've been so inspired lately, but the words are flowing. I know when I'm done with this tale, I'll need to go back and do some serious rewrites and clean-ups, but I'm almost looking forward to it. I wasn't entirely happy with the action showpieces of this chapter, so there might be some rewrites of those in the future as well._

 _So no lemon in this chapter, and I'm not sure if and when there will be another one. Could happen in the next chapter. Could happen three chapters from now. Who knows?*_

 _Anyway, please continue to read and enjoy this work and please review. I can always use con-crit reviews to grow and change and more importantly, improve my writing._

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** I don't own the Teen Titans or any DC characters, but I own Mark. I made him. He's mine._

 _-MeatLips_

 _*I cut the lemon in Chapter 9 to keep my 'T' rating. PM me if you want to read the original chapter uncut. Will trade for reviews :-D_

* * *

Nightwing ducked behind a brick wall as Cyborg fired his sonic cannon down the street.

"There's too many of them!" Cyborg yelled. The gunfire had increased in intensity.

Nightwing looked up to where Raven hovered. The dark Titan had thrown up another energy shield.

"Raven, can you clear a path?"

Raven nodded. "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" A dump truck levitated up, engulfed in black energy. Raven swept it down the road, sending armored soldiers flying like bowling pins. "Clear!"

Nightwing nodded to Cyborg. "Let's go!"

Raven suddenly spun to the side as a pair of small rockets streaked past her and exploded against the road and sending more armored soldiers flying. She look back and saw a Gizmo flying in. As he approached the ground, the wings extending from his backpack retracted and a set of four spider-like metal legs sprouted out of his backpack and slammed into the ground. He then began to move forward. A gatling gun appeared out of his pack and began to rip through soldiers like rag-dolls.

"Gizmo, what are you doing?" Nightwing demanded. "We only need to incapacitate, not kill these guys!"

Gizmo glared at Nightwing, then he struck one of his spiked feet down through a soldier's body and lifted it up to show.

"They're robots, you fuckin' scuzz-face!" The spider-legged inventor shook off the mechanical corpse and continued down the street, his gatling gun making short work of any opposition. More armored soldiers cropped up behind him.

Raven suddenly threw up a black energy shield in front of Nightwing as a high-powered bullet slammed into it.

"Rooftop!" Raven called out.

Nightwing did a forward flip off his hand and launched a bird-a-rang in the direction the bullet had come from. It lodged itself in the stone of a rooftop and exploded. Someone yelled and cursed incoherently. A yellow and black figure jumped to the next building.

"Is that Hive?" Cyborg asked.

"He's mine," Nightwing growled. He glanced at Cyborg and Raven. "If these guys are robots, the kid gloves are off. No holding back." He fired a grappling hook and launched himself towards the roof.

Cyborg stood up, his sonic cannon charging. "You heard the man. Kid gloves are officially off."

Raven nodded. Her eyes flashed and she tore the heads off several of the armored soldiers.

* * *

The door to the basement exploded in, causing Jinx to wince. She could still barely move and her head throbbed fiercely. Then she saw Gizmo come in through the smoke on his metal spider legs.

"Jinx!" Gizmo yelled, "Jinx! Where are you?"

"Here," Jinx called out weakly.

Gizmo's legs retracted into his backpack and he stared at the injured pink sorceress. He quickly rushed to her side and lifted her up, cradling her head.

"Oh Jinx," Gizmo murmured, tears rolling down his round cheeks, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jinx blinked at the diminutive inventor.

"Are you crying?"

Gizmo wiped his eyes with his other arm. "No, I'm not fracking crying, you fuckin' pit-sniffer! How could you let an asshat like Hive do this to you?" He looked down at her broken leg. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill him."

Jinx struggled with her bound hands. "How about we start with cutting me loose?"

Gizmo blinked, then a pair of wire-cutters extended from his gloved hand and he cut the zipties that were binding Jinx's hands. Jinx rubbed her wrists.

"Now that feels better."

Gizmo continued to gaze mournfully at her face. "Your poor face... he really messed you up."

Jinx hissed as she touched her shattered nose. Her bottom lip was also swollen and she suspected that her cheek was plenty bruised. Well, considering what Hive could have done to her, Jinx felt she got off a bit light, not including her busted leg of course. She touched the back of her head where she had connected with the wall twice and winced. She wondered if she had a concussion.

"What did you do with Hive?" Jinx asked.

Gizmo shrugged. "I haven't done a frackin' thing with him. I think the Titans are chasing him down."

Jinx blinked again. "The Titans? You mean they're here?"

"Yeah, those pit-sniffers were on the way here when I called them."

Jinx wondered in amazement. It made sense, considering the Teen Titans were technically her new team, but having them actually come to her rescue was a new feeling for her. Gizmo interrupted her thoughts.

"We should get the H.I.V.E. Five back together. Fuck those pit-sniffing Titans. Fuck the JLU. Fuck all those guys."

"I can't do that."

Gizmo glared at her. "Why not? You'd have never been picked up by that yellow-headed cock-hammer if we were still a team!"

"But we're not a team any more, Giz. That's not who I want to be."

Gizmo bowed his head and mumbled something.

"What's that?"

He mumbled again a little louder.

"Big sis can't hear you."

"I said I frackin' miss you, ok?"

Jinx started to grin, then winced as her face and nose throbbed with pain. She patted the diminutive genius on the head.

"You might be a total pervert and a huge douche-canoe, but you'll always be my friend, Giz."

"Hey, I'm not a pervert!"

"Cameras in my room, anyone?"

Gizmo turned fire engine red. "I...I just like looking at you, that's all."

Jinx arched an eyebrow and then winced again. Even that frigging hurt.

"I agree that I am certainly hotness personified into a sexy pink package, but I can't be more than just a friend to you, Giz."

Gizmo looked away. "Yeah, I know." He stood up and his mechanical spider legs extended from his pack again. "Let's get you out of here."

Jinx winced again as a pair of metal arms emerged from the backpack to gently scoop her up from the floor. Then she pointed at the table where the small box with the red light still sat.

"Grab that too, but fucking turn it off. I think the rest of the Titans might be interested in it."

* * *

Nightwing chased Hive across the rooftops. The masked man jumped from building to building, periodically firing behind himself with the assault rifle he was carrying. Nightwing deftly dodged the bullets as they tore chunks out of the rooftop. He ducked behind a chimney as Hive started firing in earnest.

"Just give it up, Hive!" Nightwing yelled, "Otherwise you're just gonna go down tired!"

Nightwing spun out from behind the chimney, launching a bird-a-rang. The spinning device embedded into the barrel of Hive's rifle. Hive tossed the rifle over the edge of the roof as the bird-a-rang exploded.

Nightwing stood up and prepared to rush the other man when he saw an object roll across the roof to his feet.

A grenade.

Without thinking, Nightwing launched himself off the roof, firing his grappling hook and catching himself on the next building as the explosion tore open the rooftop he'd been standing on. He swung himself, using the momentum to jump onto the rooftop that Hive had been standing on and found the other man far ahead. Then Nightwing heard the sound of a helicopter rotor. He ran forward, pulling his grappling hook out. Up ahead, he saw Hive hanging from a ladder as a black armored helicopter lifted him up in the air. In desperation, Nightwing fired his hook, hoping to catch the underside of the 'copter, but his hook bounced off.

"Eat a dick, freak!" Hive howled, flipping his middle finger at the Titans leader. The helicopter accelerated away and seemed to melt into the sky.

"Fuck," Nightwing muttered.

* * *

Raven and Cyborg stood in the middle of the wrecked street. The robotic bodies of thirty to forty armored soldiers lay sparking around them in a gruesome tableau of complete destruction. They heard the noise of metal on asphalt and they spun as one, ready to attack. But it was Gizmo. He crossed the street with his robotic spider legs. In a pair of robotic arms, a pink and bloodied girl lay clutching a small metal cube. One of Jinx's legs was bent wrong and the lower half of her face was mostly covered in blood. Her nose looked crushed. She focused her blackened eyes on the two Titans.

"'Bout time you slackers showed up. I had that asshole right where I wanted him."

Raven floated towards the two former H.I.V.E. members and lay a hand on Jinx's forehead. The pain from the girl's leg and face were almost too much for the empath to bear.

"I brought ya'll a present," Jinx said weakly. She shoved the metal box into Raven's other hand.

Raven nodded and took the box from Jinx's shaking hands. "Sleep now, Jinx. We'll talk about it later." Raven's eyes flashed white and Jinx fell into a deep sleep.

"The fuck you do to her?" Gizmo demanded.

"I put her to sleep," Raven responded, "and I lessened her pain for now. So shut up."

Cyborg came over and gently lifted the sleeping Jinx out of Gizmo's mechanical arms. "I got you now, little lady. Everything's gonna be alright."

"Hive got away," Nightwing growled as he approached. He glanced at Jinx. "How is she doing?"

Cyborg frowned. "She's had the shit beat out of her, if that's what you're wondering. Doesn't look like her life is in danger."

Gizmo retracted his metal spider legs back into his backpack and glared at the Titans leader.

"You let that ass-muncher get away?"

Nightwing glared back. "He had help. A black helicopter picked him up. Had a stealth generator on it." He glanced at the metal box. "What's that?"

"Don't know yet," Raven said, "Jinx gave it to me."

Nightwing's eyes narrowed. That tech looked familiar.

People were starting to emerge from their buildings and staring in amazement and horror at the destruction. Mixed in with the large number of police cars pulling up were several news vans disgorging cameramen and reporters who were anxious to get a statement.

"Put Jinx in the car," Nightwing instructed the other two Titans, "She wouldn't want to be seen like this."

Cyborg nodded. He gently put Jinx in the back seat and got in the front. Raven joined Jinx in the back and lay the unconscious pink girl's head on her lap. She glanced at Gizmo who was watching them mournfully.

"Are you coming or what?"

Gizmo blinked in surprise, then he jumped into the back seat, gently lifting Jinx's legs and laying them across his lap.

"Why are you letting me come with?" The diminutive inventor asked suspiciously.

"You're an honorary Titan now, aren't you?" Raven responded, "And you're Jinx's friend. So close the door, and keep quiet."

Nightwing turned to the approaching news crews to make a quick statement and to introduce his new identity to the world.

* * *

Raven gritted her teeth as her soul-self traversed the tissues that made up Jinx's nose. She moved the shattered bone fragments back into their proper positions like pieces of a puzzle and then forced them to knit together at an accelerated rate. Then she healed the surrounding cartilage and encouraged cell growth to prevent any scar tissue from forming. Then Raven moved her mental spark further down Jinx's body to the pink sorceress' leg and got the bones to set and begin to knit together. Jinx's leg would still need to spend time in a cast, but it should be back to a 100% afterward. So no future limp for Jinx.

She and Cyborg had to shoo away Beast Boy and Starfire when the first got back as the two of them were worried about their teammate. Nightwing had taken the metal box and disappeared into his inner sanctum, probably to obsess over the box, Raven figured. The Titans leader's emotions had spiked in a familiar way when he saw the tech. Cyborg had helped stabilize Jinx on the bed in the infirmary and plug in some saline to help hydrate the pink girl. Then he left Raven to do the hard stuff of healing the girl's injuries. Gizmo had planted himself outside the infirmary and refused to move.

When Raven finished, she sat back and breathed heavily. Healing like this tended to take a lot of her. Jinx had been silent and had her eyes closed during the whole operation. Raven stood up and turned to go. She guessed that Jinx had been sleeping and Raven had preferred that.

"Hey Raven."

Raven sighed. Sleeping had apparently been too much to ask. She turned back to the bed where Jinx lay.

"What?"

"I just wanted to ask you something: Are we friends?"

Raven blinked at that for a moment. Then she approached the bedside again.

"Why do you ask?"

Jinx turned her head away. "I was just... curious. I don't have many friends that are girls."

Raven pulled up her chair and sat down again.

"Let me ask you something then... why didn't you mention that you played Caverns & Monsters? Gizmo said you used to run campaigns."

Jinx turned her head and stared into Raven's amethyst eyes.

"It wasn't the most inviting atmosphere, you know. You guys sort of treat me like I'm still in H.I.V.E. Made me wonder why the fuck Robin, sorry NIGHTWING, even bothered inviting me onto the team."

"The last person that joined our team sort of burned us badly."

Jinx narrowed her eyes at Raven. "Do you know what I was doing before I went to Colombia? I was bussing tables at an eatery downtown. I was also washing dishes, mopping the floor, cleaning the bathrooms... basically most things that kept me out of view of the customers. You know just as well as I do what it's like to be different. It wasn't like I was all gothed out with the full hair horns either. I like my style. It's what makes me feel like me. But I had none of that shit going on and still could barely get work. Honorary Titans don't get more than a monthly stipend, if we're lucky. And people like me? Everyone still thinks I'm a stupid super-villain.

"Every day I trudged into that fucking restaurant to work, knowing they'd probably call the cops if I went in there as a customer. Every day I imagined that I could just knock over the bank next door and skip town. Hook back up with the rest of the former H.I.V.E. kids and be a criminal again. But I didn't. Do you know why?"

"No."

"Because I promised myself that I'd be different. Be a better person than I was. But it barely mattered. Hell, I remember being out with Wally one time and you showed up because the Titans needed him. You treated me like I was dirt on your shoe. Told me you weren't talking to me and then proceeded to ignore the fuck out of me. Sure made me feel like a million bucks."

Raven narrowed her eyes back at the pink sorceress. "Sorry you're so offended. I also remember every time I fought with you. Every underhanded tactic. Every sarcastic comment that ridiculed me. You even trashed my room that one time you H.I.V.E. brats took over the Tower. Jinx, I really didn't like you very much and you never gave me any reason to feel different about you."

"I always thought you were dark and creepy as fuck."

"And I always thought you were neon-pink and obnoxious."

The two girls glared at each other for a moment. Then Jinx grinned.

"I guess we're not so much different after all."

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. "Maybe not."

"Still, despite my power of causality manipulation, I believe I am a very lucky woman."

"Why is that?"

"Because I have Wally." Jinx smiled. "I never want to let him down."

Raven arched her eyebrow again.

"You know he still flirts with other girls, right?"

Jinx shrugged. "Of course I do. It used to drive me nuts. But he always came back to me. His flirting never went beyond just that. I pretty much came to the conclusion that Wally West is a shallow and narcissistic human being, but he's also loyal and supportive and has never hurt me. I've dated a few winners, believe me. I've gotten very good at reading people over the years."

Raven cocked her head. "What about Cyborg?"

"Oh, you mean 'STONE?'" Jinx made air quotes when she said the name. "I'll admit I was obsessed with him. That's because he was the first man to treat me with respect. But he broke my heart when I met his girlfriend." Jinx paused. "Also, Starfire almost broke my jaw too. Such fun memories!"

Jinx arched her eyebrow at Raven. "I will tell you this much: I think you made a good choice with Goldman. He's genuinely a good guy." The pink sorceress grinned. "Hell, if I wasn't with Wally, I wouldn't mind taking that thing of his for a ride." Jinx wiggled her eyebrows. "Maybe we can do a boyfriend swap some time?"

Raven favored the pink sorceress with an icy stare. "I certainly hope you're kidding."

Jinx shrugged. "Who knows?" she leaned forward. "At least tell me how it is."

"How what is?"

"You know, getting railed by Moby Dick?"

Raven blinked. "What?"

"C'mon, Rae. Work with me here. I mean riding the baloney rhino. Getting hammered by Mjolnir. Being run ragged by the one-eyed monster."

"Jinx, I have no idea-"

"I mean getting fucked by that enormous dick! I've seen your boy limp. I can only imagine what it would be like if he were hard as a rock! He must get light-headed from the blood rushing down there!"

Raven stared at the pink sorceress.

"Aside from the fact that what Mark and I do is none of your business, why would you even want to know?"

Jinx grinned. "Because I like seeing you act human. Getting a rise out of you helps with that. Also, on a more perverse level, I'm genuinely curious. I mean, it's not like Wally is lacking in that department, but your chubby engineer has a really large dick. No, I don't actually want to swap boyfriends, but part of me is curious. So spill... girl to girl now. How is it?"

Raven's face grew a little red. "If you tell anyone any of this, I will make sure you suffer before you die."

"Cross my heart."

"Fine, it's... really really good."

Jinx blinked. "That's it? It's just 'really really good?'"

"Jinx, I've only been with Mark. I don't have much to compare to, nor am I interested in finding a comparison. But I will say that I have no complaints."

Jinx frowned. "No details?"

Raven arched an eyebrow. "That's about as detailed as I'm going to get."

The pink sorceress sighed. "You really are no fun."

Raven stared at Jinx. "Why do you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Try to misdirect from what you really are feeling. Asking me about Mark while you feel like this. You couldn't get more obvious."

Jinx gritted her teeth. "Shit, I forgot you were an empath."

"You really had me snowed, Jinx," Raven said, "I never detected any of your inner feelings because you were hiding them. I'm not even sure how you do it, but the effect was that I didn't look further into what might have been bothering you. No wonder people think we treated you like shit when you started at the Tower."

Jinx frowned. "Who thinks that?"

"Your boy Gizmo for one. He tore us a new one when we were on our way to rescue you. And it totally fit. We weren't being mean to you, but we also weren't being overly inclusive. For that..." Raven bowed her head slightly. "I'm really sorry. We should have included you more outside of training."

Jinx blinked. "Did you... did you just apologize? To me?"

"Yes."

"Wow! I almost wish I had gotten this on my phone!"

Raven frowned. "Don't push it."

"Anyway, to answer your question as to how I hide my emotions from powerful empaths: I learned how to do it as a child in Mumbai."

"I didn't know there were powerful empaths in Mumbai." Raven arched her eyebrow. "Furthermore, I didn't even know you were Indian."

"Surprised?"

"Not really."

"Well," Jinx continued, "starting with my life story..."

"Is this going to take long?" Raven asked.

Jinx frowned at her. "C'mon, at least listen to my history a little. Maybe you'll get a better understanding of your TEAMMATE."

"Ok fine. So Mumbai..."

"Right, so my parents were from Chennai originally. They moved to Mumbai to get away from the Indian caste system that's prevalent there. Mumbai is supposed to be a city of equals. But it is India, so _haha_. My parents were regarded as _Dalits_ , which is like the lowest of the caste ladder. My dad managed to land a job at a tire factory in Mumbai. So they moved. They had my older brother, then my older sister, then me. And before you ask, yes, I popped out as beautiful and exotic as I am today."

"What does this have to do with you hiding your emotions from empaths?"

"Getting to that. Being _Dalits_ my parents taught me and my brother and sister firsthand how to bury our feelings. It was customary. You don't want to invite retribution from upper castes by showing how you really feel. So bury it and smile. And that's how it works for me."

Raven was quiet for a moment. "Jinx... how did you end up in this life?"

"That's simple. Being a born freak, most of the neighbors distrusted me, and my family. It stressed my folks out something fierce. Then when I was ten, my abilities manifested. I had no idea how to control it, so things I touched were suddenly affected by bad luck. Touch a neighbor's car and the wheels might fall off, or the engine seizes. Touch a pregnant goat and maybe it miscarries. Things like that. The glowing pink aura didn't help either. Finally some elders came to my parents and told them I was a _Manushya-Rakshasi_ or a female demon in human form. So I needed to be cast out. Which my loving parents did. Cast me out. Left me on a dockside with a garbage bag of my stuff and like fifteen hundred rupees. That's about $22. I got to see the real world then."

Raven blinked. The emotions she felt coming off the pink sorceress were bitter and sad. A dark blue with flecks of red.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Jinx."

Any sign of her usual humor was absent from Jinx's face. She turned and looked out the window.

"After some hairy experiences I got to Japan and lived on the street in Tokyo for a year or so. That's kind of where I picked up my look. Hanging around Harijuku. But I fell in with a crowd of thieves. Got a taste for burglary. Left Japan with a pocket of stolen cash and landed in Australia, then migrated north. I learned English and practiced it until I was accent free. I didn't want anyone to have any idea where I'd come from. Ultimately I got into H.I.V.E. and enrolled in the H.I.V.E. academy. I learned how to properly control my powers then."

Jinx turned back to look at Raven.

"I also dated a lot of criminal dirtbags. Even ran into one a year ago while out with Wally. But Wally was the only one I voluntarily gave it up to."

"'Gave it up?'"

"Sex, genius. Wally is the only one I ever WANTED to sleep with."

"I see."

"Do you?" Jinx asked with her eyebrow raised. Raven could feel a dark undercurrent of anger and bitterness flowing off the pink sorceress before it muted under a sea of placid dark green.

Jinx settled back in the bed. "So, now you know about where I come from. Where are you from? Quid-pro-quo."

Raven hesitated. "Where do you think I'm from?"

"Well, I don't think you're from Pittsburgh."

"No. I'm from a place called Azarath in a different dimension."

Jinx blinked. "Seriously? You're extra-dimensional?"

"Yes. My mother came from New York and my father... was a demon who tried to enslave all dimensions."

Jinx blinked again. "Wow, that sucks."

Raven nodded. "I was born in Azarath and I was brought up in an emotionally isolated environment." She looked at Jinx. "Unlike you, I couldn't just bury my emotions. My powers are affected by my emotions, so I had to master them and keep them in tight control to the point where I almost couldn't feel anything. I ended up here fleeing my father. That's me in a nutshell."

Jinx grinned. "Looks like I still win the most tragic backstory award."

"I'm not trying to get into a pissing match with you about who's history is more tragic," Raven said, "All that matters to me is who we are now. I've known you a long time, Jinx. I've seen you at your worst, when you were a H.I.V.E. academy brat, and at your best when you helped us assault the Brotherhood base. Your rescue of Mark in Colombia just showed me what I already knew about you."

"And what's that?"

"That deep down you are actually a NICE PERSON," Raven replied, "Jinx, you're abrasive, narcissistic, obnoxious, over-confident, and annoying."

Jinx frowned. "Was that the compliment part?"

"Let me finish. You're also brave, committed, strong, caring, loyal, and selfless. These are the qualities that make you a Titan. Not because you jumped sides." Raven stood up. "So in answer to your question: are we friends? Yes. I consider you to be my friend."

Jinx's face was unreadable, but Raven could feel warm emotions flowing from her.

"Thanks, Rae," Jinx said softly, "And also for healing me."

Raven nodded. "Get better. I've healed most of the damage to your face and your leg, but you need to let yourself naturally heal for the rest. The Titans are waiting for you." The dark Titan frowned. "And for the last time, my name is RAVEN, not RAE."

"One more thing, Raven," Jinx called as Raven stood at the doorway. The dark Titan turned around again to glare at Jinx.

"What?"

The pink sorceress grinned her patented chesire cat grin. "You're walking funny."

Raven felt her face grow hot. "Shut up."

* * *

Kid Flash watched as Raven left the infirmary. He had rushed over from Central City as soon as he heard about what had happened. He was also more than a little annoyed with the hero-formerly-known-as-Robin that nobody had contacted him when everything had first gone down. Kid Flash schooled the irritation from his face and then entered the infirmary.

Jinx lay with her leg bound up and an unreadable expression on her face. But her face looked pretty much back to normal. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hey slowpoke, how you doing?"

Jinx sat up and held out her arms to him. Kid Flash leaned forward and wrapped the pink sorceress in a tight embrace. He felt her shoulders shaking.

"Hey, are you crying?"

"Just shut up," Jinx murmured into his chest, "and just hold me... please Wally... just hold me for a little while."

"Sure, Pokey," Kid Flash murmured back, "I got you. I got you. I'm never going to let you go." He felt the shaking intensify and Jinx's tears begin to wet the front of his uniform.

"Thank you," Kid Flash heard Jinx whisper, "for believing in me."

Gizmo listened to them for a minute from outside the infirmary, then he quietly got up and headed to the main ops room.

* * *

I finished cleaning my room and defurring my remaining furniture. I glanced at the blank wall where my tv had been and sighed. Even though it had been totally worth it, I did miss the tv. Ah well, it's only a tv and such things are replaceable. My relationship with Raven was irreplaceable and thus to me had much higher value than any material objects.

There was a knock at my door. I opened it revealing a hooded Raven. She looked a little worse for wear. There were burn marks and holes in her cloak. I stared at the holes for a moment.

"Are those bullet holes?"

"Yes."

I blinked for a moment. Then moved aside as she came into my room. I closed the door behind her.

"What happened with Jinx? Did you guys find her? Was she ok?"

Raven suddenly sat down on my couch and wrapped her cloak around herself. She then lowered her hood.

"I just need some quiet time now," she muttered. She glanced up at me. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Melvin and me know better."

Raven assumed a lotus position on my couch and sat still. After a few minutes, I noticed her breathing had become relaxed, and her head was bowed forward. I guessed she wasn't meditating. I gently put a blanket around her shoulders and let her be.

* * *

Raven felt at peace. Tranquil. Like all was right with the world. Her body felt comfortable. She slowly opened her eyes and found that she was comfortably curled up on Mark's couch. There was a blanket over her and a sleeping Melvin cat lay across her lap. Mark sat at his desk with his chair leaned back. A soft snore sounded from his mouth and his glasses were askew across his face. Raven carefully removed his glasses with her power and levitated them to the desk next to him.

Raven wasn't immediately sure why she sought out Mark after talking with Jinx. She knew she had been exhausted. Normally Raven would have simply ported to her room and collapsed on her bed to sleep for a few hours. But for some reason, the dark Titan just did not feel like being alone. She supposed there was an emotional advantage to having a boyfriend insofar as having someone close to confide in, although the very term 'boyfriend' conjured up images of some juvenile high school level relationship which made Raven squirm.

Raven lay her head back down and gently rubbed Melvin's head for a little while, letting her mind slowly analyze her experiences over the last twenty-four hours. She really needed to meditate to properly organize her thoughts and feelings, but Raven was so comfortable she simply did not want to get up. A lot had happened. The previous night, (though it had been after midnight so it was technically earlier that morning) Raven had no immediate idea outside of instinct as to why she confessed her feelings to the systems engineer. She gauged her feelings as to how she felt when she finally saw Mark in that truck cab the previous week. He had literally looked like he'd been through hell and back. Her accelerated heartbeat, the butterflies in her stomach, these had been things that contributed to her overall attraction to the gentle systems engineer. But at the same time, it filled her with trepidation.

Raven also had to face facts. The sex with Mark had been amazing. Compared to when she had practically date-raped him in a drug-fueled haze, having him be an active participant made the previous act pale in comparison. Raven had also inadvertantly entered Mark's mind and had experienced what he had been feeling when he was penetrating her. The sensation of being enveloped as well as doing the enveloping and the buildup to climax. The doubled sensation had completely blown Raven's mind and cranked her intensity level past eleven and into unmapped territory. Raven was very certain that had the spell barrier not been in place, she'd have likely split the Tower open instead of just destroying Mark's tv and some furniture... and some light fixtures.

Raven turned her head and gazed at Mark's face from across the room. His forehead still mostly unlined, his beard that was slowly coming back in, his slightly larger-than-average nose, his full head of slightly messy hair, even the roundness of his cheeks. He was actually drooling a little in his sleep. Mark had lost some weight being a prisoner, but it looked like he was slowly gaining it back. That didn't bother Raven, but she could feel that it bothered Mark.

Raven felt curious as to why she felt the way she did, and in an objective and almost clinical way, she examined her errant emotions. Mark was just so unlike anyone she had ever met before. In the month or so that Raven had known him, he had gone from a vaguely unsettling oddity that had strong feelings for her, to someone she now had reciprocal feelings for. She didn't have any doubts that the drug fueled sex they engaged in had played a part in accelerating their relationship. But Raven had to wonder if things would have eventually led to it. Mark treated her like a regular person and in her dealings with him, Raven felt like... well, Raven. Not Raven the Teen Titan, nor Raven the Portal of Trigon, or even Raven of Azarath. She was just... Raven. And she felt remarkably content with that.

* * *

I woke up slowly and opened my eyes to find a pair of brilliant amethyst eyes gazing at me from the couch.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi."

"...What's up?"

"Not much, what's up with you?"

I stretched and stood up from my chair.

"Not much either," I responded with a smirk.

Raven rested her head back against her hand and absently stroked Melvin.

"That really is about it," Raven murmured, "I'm feeling much more relaxed and quite content. Not really interested in doing much else."

"Well, you can't stay on my couch forever making love to my cat like that. Eventually you'll need to take bathroom breaks and meals."

"Eating and peeing are overrated."

I chuckled a bit at that. Then I put my glasses back on.

"What happened with Jinx? Did you guys find her?"

"It's not particularly interesting for you to ask after other women, you know."

"She's my friend and she saved my life."

Raven sighed and stretched a bit.

"Jinx was kidnapped by Hive," Raven said, "and he beat the hell out of her."

I frowned at that. "Please tell me that the Teen Titans issued him a severe beatdown of his very own."

"I think Rob- I mean, Nightwing, slugged him around a bit, but he apparently got away."

I felt a pit of cold open up in my stomach. "So... he's still out there."

Raven sat up and looked into my face again. "Mark, you don't have to worry about him ever hurting you again. You're safe here with us."

I laughed a little, then gave up the ghost. "Yeah, there's no point in hiding my feelings from an empath. I'd just be happier knowing that lunatic cock-hammock was either behind bars or dead."

Raven just gazed at me as if in thought. "I know."

"How is Jinx doing?"

"I spent a few hours putting back together the more damaged bits, but she's going to recover and be back to her annoying self within a short time. Kid Flash was looking in on her when I left."

"You were pretty beat, huh?"

Raven rubbed her eyes. "Healing like that takes a lot out of me. That's why I was so tired after healing you. The more complicated the injury, the more time and power. It also didn't help that you kept me up most of the night."

"Jinx was that bad?" I asked.

"Yes and no," Raven said, "I had to pretty much put all her nasal bones back together and then restore the cartilage in her nose." She shook her head. "An injury like that could permanently disfigure someone." Raven glanced at me. "I had to do the same thing with you. Hive really likes wrecking peoples noses."

Raven stood up and stretched in a most delightfully distracting manner.

"Jinx's right tibia and fibula were snapped like twigs, so I had to set those and get them started with healing."

I blinked. "Sorry, I failed anatomy. Which bones are those?"

Raven came over and lifted her right leg, resting her foot on my knee. "Fibula," she said, pointing at the right side of her shin, "tibia," she pointed at the center. "Patella." she indicated her kneecap. "Hive snapped her right leg here." Raven pointed at a spot a few inches below her kneecap.

I leaned forward and kissed her leg at the spot she pointed to. Raven arched an eyebrow at that.

"While having sex definitely looks appealing right now," she said with a smirk, "I still need to shower and change before I do anything. So stop that."

I slid my hands up Raven's smooth calf to the back of her knee and gently tugged her to me. "Shouldn't tease me with these sexy legs then, my Lady Legasus."

Raven slid her leg free of my hands and gently pushed me backwards into my chair with her foot.

"Down boy. I need to clean up." She glanced at the wall clock. It was about 5:30 pm. "I also need to meditate. That is something that I can't blow off."

Raven returned to the couch and gently slid her cloak out from under Melvin, who had curled up on it and was cleaning himself.

"Ick," Raven commented, looking at her cat hair covered cloak.

"You want a lint roller?"

Raven shook her head. "It's fine, I have methods of cleaning it." She shook the cloak out and muttered "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" and the cloak glowed with a dark energy. Then all the cat hair fell off of it and onto the floor. She swept the cloak back around her shoulders and clasped it. "I need to check in with Nightwing and then shower and meditate. We can... discuss... what our evening activities will encompass, though I'm leaning towards just going to bed and sleeping."

Raven smirked at my crestfallen expression. "You would be welcome to join me, of course."

I cheered right up. "Of course!"

* * *

The helicopter flew in stealth mode and from the outside appeared completely invisible. Hive settled back in his seat and stared at the dark figure that sat across from him. The silence stretched over the hours they were in the air. Inwardly Hive seethed at his screw up. And it was a Screw Up with a capital 'S' and a capital 'U.' He had anticipated the Teen Titans coming to Jinx's rescue and he figured he was equipped to handle them. But they had surprised him with their tenacity. Hive wasn't even sure who the new member in the dark colored costume was, but he moved just like Robin did. And Gizmo... that little shit. There was an EMP device sitting back there with that little dwarf's name all over it, but everything got screwed up. By all rights Hive should have been in this 'copter with Gizmo stuffed in a dog carrier. Instead he was sitting there wondering when the other occupant would speak to him. He knew better than to initiate the conversation.

"I'm very disappointed, Captain. Considering how much I invested, I really did expect better from you," The figure finally said.

"Look, I had them on the ropesh and I wash ready for Gizshmo. I could have shealed the deal."

The figure just stared at Hive with a single visible eye. It was an eye that was filled with malice.

"'Sealed the deal?' You weren't even close. I know the skill levels of the Titans and you were not. Even. Close. Your failures reflect on me and that makes me rather unhappy. You seem to forget at times that everything you have, everything you do, even everything you ARE comes from me. You don't work for the Brotherhood. You work for me. The Brotherhood is just another contract. But when you fail, it sullies my reputation."

"I can do better-"

"Next time, you say?" the figure cut Hive off, "And how do you propose to do that? Come back here again and kidnap another fool? Like that waste-of-flesh engineer? Or maybe another Titan? Raven or Starfire, perhaps? Cause another incident to be reported across all the news outlets?"

Hive hung his head.

"Pleashe allow me to apologishe, shir."

"Ah, at least that is a start. Admitting one's fault. Fortunately, I think I can salvage the situation. I don't need Gizmo to complete the contract for the Brotherhood. There are other... options... that have become available."

"Will you shtill train me, shir?" Hive asked tentatively, "Ash your apprentishe?"

The figure flowed to its feet and suddenly Hive found himself overpowered. He was slammed face first into the floor of the helicopter and a thick armored arm wrapped itself around his throat.

"That won't be possible now. Unfortunately for you, Captain, I've decided to make some changes in the organization. Your services will no longer be... required."

The arm began to exude pressure around Hive's neck. He frantically clawed at it. Hive gasped as the pressure increased around his throat, closing off his airways. Then there was a painful popping noise and the man called Captain Hive saw no more.

The armored man stood up and thumbed the intercom.

"How far are we over the ocean?"

"Fifty miles, sir."

The man slid the helicopter door open and picked up Hive's body with one hand.

"Goodbye, Captain Hive," the man said, "and apology accepted."

Hive's body plummeted to the ocean below and disappeared beneath the waves.


	11. Chapter 11

_I think this story is gonna grow and grow. The ideas have been flying for me and I've take great pleasure in writing them down. This particular chapter was fun to write, though I think I may rewrite parts of it to tighten it up. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and I'm hoping everyone else that reads my rambling tale of Mark, the IT guy, will enjoy it too._

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** I don't own the Teen Titans or any DC characters. But I do own Mark. I made him. he's mine._

 _-MeatLips  
_

* * *

A couple of weeks went by and soon the go-live date on the JLU cloud was looming. I was totally looking forward to bringing it officially on-line. That go-live date meant more to me than anyone could know. It meant no longer whining to Raven or whoever was available to chaperone me into the city. It meant independence. It meant FREEDOM.

I was literally going stir-crazy by staying in the Tower all the time. It wasn't like I was a night-life kind of guy, but just being able to go to the supermarket, or for a haircut, or even to the bank by myself for once would have been a sought-after experience. Granted, it wasn't all bad staying cooped up. My favorite Titan certainly didn't mind being reclusive. In fact, Raven was probably the only reason I hadn't thrown myself from the roof of the Tower in an escape attempt.

Our relationship had flourished as the days went by. Raven was my sounding board, my therapist, and my lover all wrapped up into one sexy package with a pair of killer legs. When something work related was frustrating me, or some obtuse engineer or bean counter in JLU was holding things up, Raven listened to me bitch and moan, and when I was done, she'd arch that eyebrow of hers and look me in the eye and ask if I were finished. Then she'd tell me to deal with the things I had control over and stop whining about things I where I had none. The woman could read me like a book.

A day arrived however where I needed the help of someone who could drive. When I had a Titan to chaperone me out, I usually drove, unless it was Cyborg. But in this instance, I needed someone to drive me. Specifically, I was scheduled for oral surgery. I was having a titanium implant installed into my jaw where my tooth had been missing. For that, I was getting put under heavy sedation and wouldn't be able to drive myself back to the Tower. I had been putting it off for a while, but I was getting sick of that gap in the bottom row of teeth.

So three days before my appointment, I asked at the communal breakfast.

"So I'm getting an implant on Monday. Need someone to drive me and wait for me. Any takers?"

Cyborg looked at me from over his waffles. "I can probably take you. Dunno about waiting though."

"All I got is the R-cycle," Nightwing said, putting down his newspaper, "I doubt you'd wanna be riding bitch on that."

"I do not actually drive, Friend Mark," said Starfire. She arched an eyebrow at Nightwing. "So when I am riding behind you on your motorized bicycle, I am in fact riding 'bitch?'"

Nightwing blinked. "No... no, Star... It's just an expression... for when, uh, MEN ride behind men. Yeah!"

Starfire's eyes narrowed. "Indeed."

"Dude," Beast Boy interjected as he played with some sort of soy based egg substitute on his plate, "I don't have my license yet, but I got a permit." He looked hard at me. "Why do you want implants anyway? Aren't your moobs already too big?"

"What is the 'moobs?'" Starfire asked, turning back from Nightwing.

"Beast Boy is delicately suggesting that Mark has too much fat in his chest already," Jinx commented. She finished spreading cream cheese on her toasted bagel. "You do actually have larger breasts than me, Mark."

I gritted my teeth at the grinning pink sorceress. I was already bristling at the moob comment, and her little breast remark was annoying.

Jinx finished spreading her cream cheese and lifted her leg cast. "Also, I can't drive at the moment. So I can't help you with your implants, princess."

I opened my mouth to tell Jinx off when I was interrupted.

"I can drive you."

I looked over at Raven and discovered her amethyst eyes were glaring at me. I swallowed.

"Uh... I-I didn't know you had your license. Also I figured you might be busy... or something."

"You didn't ask. And what, pray tell, would be more important than driving my boyfriend to the oral surgeon?"

Raven's face was mostly unreadable, but I didn't have to be an empath to know she was irritated with me.

Raven finished her tea and stood up. "I'll be in my room meditating. When you know what time your appointment is, Mark, please let me know." A dark portal opened up and my girlfriend vanished, presumably to her room.

Jinx pointed at me with her bagel. "You sir, are a dumbass."

* * *

I gently knocked on Raven's door. It opened part way, giving me half a glimpse of Raven's hooded face.

Wow, this was familiar.

"I'm sorry," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "I really didn't know you had a drivers license. I just assumed you wouldn't need one, being able to fly and teleport and all. And I usually drove when you'd chaperone me."

Raven glared at me for a moment longer, then she opened the door the rest of the way and moved aside and I entered her domain.

"Of course I have my license," Raven said after she closed the door, "however I am justifiably annoyed that you simply didn't ask me in the first place. Isn't that how relationships work? Being able to depend on each other?"

I bowed my head in shame.

"I have offended you, my Lady Legasus." I dropped to my knees and touched my head to the floor in a formal apology. "Please forgive this wretch."

"Raise your head, lowly one," Raven intoned, "for you succeeded in amusing me, thus my righteous anger has been quenched."

I looked up and saw Raven with her hood down and smirking at me.

"You know, that 'Lady Legasus' routine isn't always going to work," she said.

"But it did work, right?"

"Maybe. There is something to be said about you grovelling for forgiveness," Raven replied. She cocked her head. "What time is your appointment?"

"I need to be there at like 8:30am. The procedure takes about an hour, and then they'll have me lying in some recovery room until I'm more awake."

Raven nodded then turned to walk over to her bookcase. I squinted at the book she took out. It looked a bit familiar.

"Uh, what book is that?"

"It's my study guide from driver's education," Raven replied, "I just wanted to refresh a bit."

I blinked.

"Raven, when was the last time you drove?"

"A year and a half ago when I got my license. Why?"

I blinked again and silently thanked my lucky stars that my car was an automatic.

* * *

Jinx balanced herself on the parallel beams and pulled her body into a handstand, spreading her legs out into a split. She spun herself like a helicopter, going from beam to beam. It had been hard at first maintaining her balance doing that since the cast on her right leg threw her balance off, so she got around the inconsistency by attaching some ankle weights to her left leg.

Keeping in shape was something that Jinx regarded as almost a religion. Being dedicated, consistent, and looking fine. It was harder performing her normal workout routines with the cast, but she could still work her upper body and abdominals. It was gonna be a hell of a leg day when the cast finally came off. But even just using her arms and back, she was still as nimble as ever.

Jinx lowered herself to the mat and hopped over to where she left her towel and water bottle. There were only really two ways Jinx liked to work out. One was doing her routines at the gym. The other... well... it involved a certain speedster and it was a hell of a lot more fun. She wiped her face and neck down and took a swig from her bottle.

"Jinx."

The pink sorceress turned and saw Raven standing near the training room entrance.

"Hey Rae! What's up?"

"It's RAVEN, not... you know what, forget it. I need your help with something."

Jinx hobbled over to a bench near the wall and dropped down onto it. She took another swig from her bottle and then capped it.

"Well step into my office and let's talk about it." Jinx patted the bench next to her. Raven sat down next to Jinx. "So what can I do for you, mistress of the dark?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at the impromptu title, then appeared to dismiss it. "How long have you been driving?"

"Since I was twelve. Learned in Europe by stealing cars." Jinx grinned. "Now that was fun!"

Raven blinked at that, then shook her head. "So you've got lots of experience as a driver?"

"Yup, I'd say so."

"I need your help getting back up to speed... driving."

Jinx arched her eyebrow at the dark Titan. "I thought you had your license."

"I do. It's just..." Raven hesitated, "It's been a while since I actually drove a car, and Mark's oral surgeon is on the other side of town."

"Does Mark know that you have no clue?"

Raven narrowed her eyes at the pink Titan. "He knows, but I told him it wasn't a problem."

"I see. And what do you think I can do for you?"

"Come out driving with me. I'm going to borrow Mark's car and you can help me get back into the swing of it."

Jinx clapped her hands together with glee. "Oooh! A road trip! I'm loving it! We can go hit up some clubs or something!"

Raven frowned. "I was just thinking off the island and around the block near the causeway. Not all over the place."

"Oh no," Jinx said grinning, "if you wanna get back into the groove, baby, you gotta jump into the deep end! We can bring Starfire with us! It'll be a girls Saturday night out!"

"I don't want to involve Starfire-"

"Rae," Jinx interrupted, "it's Saturday night. If you want my help, this is the price. Girls. Night. Out."

Raven held up a drivers education manual. "Will you at least go over this with me before we actually go anywhere?"

Jinx plucked the manual from Raven's hand and tossed it in the nearby trash can. "Honey, there are two ways to drive: One, following that stupid book to the letter, or two, getting behind the wheel and feeling the road beneath your tires."

Raven frowned again. "You do actually have a drivers license, right?"

"Baby, I'm licensed to drive in four different countries and wanted in three for grand theft auto. You aren't gonna get a better teacher than me."

* * *

My mind wandered the eldritch depths of java application programming. I was determined to make headway on this side project before the cloud came on-line. My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of my beautiful girlfriend entering my office. She had her cloak on, but her hood was down. And she looked... uncertain. This was not an expression I'd ever seen before on Raven's face.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Mark," Raven began, "I was wondering... if you wouldn't mind, well... if I borrowed your car for tonight."

I took out my car keys and put them on my desk. "You going anywhere good? You want me to come with you?"

Raven blinked at me for a moment. "You don't mind me borrowing the car?"

"Why would I mind? You have your license. You're covered under the JLU umbrella insurance. Where are you going?"

"Well Jinx, Starfire, and I were just going to go to the mall."

"The mall, huh? Starfire really digs going to that place. So it's like a girls only night?" I asked. I felt a little disappointed, but at the same time I was happy that Raven was getting along with Jinx. Also, it wasn't like Jinx could drive with her cast on, so I wasn't worried about that crazy pink goth chick taking my car offroading or something dangerous. "Well, just be careful. Cars can be replaced, but you can't."

Raven slowly picked up the car keys. "You're really alright with me and the girls going out in your car?"

I blinked.

"Well, aside from the fact that any one of you could probably tear my car apart like tinfoil, what's the worst that could happen?" I replied with a shrug, "Just be careful driving, that's all."

* * *

Raven stood wearing clothes that Jinx had approved of that consisted of a nice shirt and dress combo that accentuated her figure. The pink sorceress had practically invaded Raven's room and picked out an outfit for Raven to wear, not realizing just how close she came to being permanently banished to an alternate dimension for being annoying. Raven had toyed with that idea before abandoning it due to the fact that Jinx was a Teen Titan and Nightwing wouldn't approve.

Now Raven waited for Jinx to limp around the little red Fiesta, a frown on the pink sorceress' face.

"This is Mark's car?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. "What's wrong with it?"

Jinx stared at Raven for a moment. "Nothing, if you don't mind being laughed at behind your back."

Starfire hovered nearby. She wore her usual eyecatching mall outfit. The Tamaranean's choice in civilian clothing always made it seem like she was ready for a night out clubbing. She wore a short mini-skirt and lowcut top that accentuated her cleavage. Jinx was wearing a variation of her usual outfit, with her goth-style short black dress and a single thigh-length black stocking and black boot on her left leg, since her right leg had the cast on it. Jinx's pink hair was in its usual sweeping horn style.

"I am sorry, Sister Jinx," Starfire began, "but I do not understand. Why would anyone derive amusement at Friend Mark's expense about his vehicle?"

Jinx sighed, then she gestured at the T-Car. "You see that? That is a powerful car. It's sleek, sexy, got plenty of horses under the hood, and it's bad-ass." She pointed at the R-Cycle. "That's Nightwing's ride and motorbikes are like super-masculine rock-hard cocks personified." She pointed back at the Fiesta. "This is a fuel efficient little lunchbox that you'd expect to find tree-hugging liberal douche-bags driving."

Raven arched her eyebrow again. "So you're saying that Mark is a 'tree-hugging liberal douche-bag?'"

Jinx frowned at Raven. "C'mon, Rae. What do you see when you look at this wheeled baby-shoe? You can't tell me this ride gets you excited!"

"What I see when I look at this car is someone without a lot of money buying a used vehicle off of Craigslist. It's a six year old car that's supposed to get from point A to point B. Considering the city we live in and the careers of the people Mark works with, I'm surprised he even owns a car."

Jinx threw up her hands. "Fine, I give up. Let's just go. I call shotgun." The pink sorceress opened the passenger side door and folded herself in. Starfire got into the backseat and Raven assumed position at the wheel.

Raven glanced over at the sullen Jinx. "You sure you don't want to bring your crutch?"

"Crutches are for pussies and fat people. Let's get going already."

Raven put the key in the ignition and turned it. The lights on the dash blinked at her, but the car didn't start. Raven frowned at that, then tried again. Same thing.

"Are you pressing the brake?" Jinx asked.

Raven's eyes widened at that. She quickly pushed the brake pedal and tried starting the car. This time the engine roared to life.

"This is gonna be a long night," Jinx muttered, rubbing her face.

Raven frowned at the pink Titan. "I just wanted to go around the block. You're the one who wants this to be a 'girls night out.'"

Jinx took out her phone and scrolled the screen a few times with her finger. Then she put the phone against the dash board.

"Just follow these directions. This is the first place we're gonna go to."

Raven just stared at Jinx until the pink Titan began to squirm. "What?"

"Put your seatbelt on."

"Yes, Sister Jinx," Starfire said from the backseat, "It is for the safety!"

* * *

Raven parked the car near the large refurbished warehouse. The deep thrumming bass coming from the building was already making her head pound. She was familiar with the place, as it was a favorite dance location for the Titans when they did their team night out, though Raven never danced. It was the first time she had come here without the rest of the team, not including Starfire and Jinx.

"So what are we doing here?" Raven asked.

"First things first," Jinx replied, "You've studied magic, Rae, am I right?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Great! Do you know any glamour spells?"

Raven blinked. "Glamour spells? I do know a few, but what are you getting at?"

"You need to make us look like different people."

Raven frowned. "Assuming that I actually wanted to impersonate a different person, why do I need to?"

"Because, tonight we are not going out as Teen Titans. I don't want to be recognized in public, do you? We kind of stand out." Jinx jerked her thumb back at Starfire. "Especially our orange skinned princess here. I don't want people knowing that I'm Jinx, former super-villain, current Teen Titan."

Raven narrowed her eyes at the pink Titan. It felt like things were beginning to spiral out of control. All she had wanted to do was go for a simple drive to re-familiarize herself with driving, and now Jinx was expecting her to glamour the three of them up.

"I don't have the proper components prepared, so I can't do it."

Jinx opened her purse and dumped the contents on her lap. "Don't worry, I have the stuff you need."

Raven crafted the first glamour on Jinx. She changed the pink Titan's hair to dark brown, changed her skin to a similar brownish hue, and altered Jinx's eyecolor to black, which effectively hid the cat's eye shape of her pupils. Jinx gazed into the makeup mirror in the sunvisor.

"Heh, I actually look Indian for the first time in my life. My mother would be shocked."

"Indeed, sister," Starfire said from the back, "You do not look at all like yourself."

Jinx glanced back at Starfire. "This is how I should have looked, Star."

Starfire cocked her head. "But it is not you, Sister Jinx."

Jinx looked at Starfire for a moment, then she climbed out of the car. "Starfire's turn, Rae."

Raven cast the glamour spell again, this time changing Starfire's skin to a more caucasian pale. She left the Tameranean's hair the same color, but altered her eyes, making the sclera white and leaving the iris green.

Jinx whistled at the result. "You look like a nice Irish girl, Star!"

Starfire frowned. "I do not like this look. It simply is not... me. I do not like forsaking that for which I was born as."

"I kind of agree with Star, Jinx," Raven said, "This is annoying. All I wanted to do was go for a drive."

"And we will, we will!" Jinx exclaimed, "After we dance for a bit here... Think of it as a stress reliever."

"You can't even dance with that cast on."

Jinx shrugged. "I can make do just fine. Now come on, glamour up, baby!"

Raven sighed, then pulled down the sunvisor and gazed at her own face in the makeup mirror. She began to craft her own glamour. She changed her skin color from its usual pale-grey to a more caucasian hue, then she altered her eyecolor from amethyst to plain blue. Finally, she changed her hair to a dark brunette and hid her chakra jewel. The end result surprised Raven at its normalcy.

Raven got out of the car and locked the doors. Starfire and Jinx stared at her.

"Now you don't look like a half-demon chick from a different dimension," Jinx grinned, "Now it's time to shake your ass with the girls!"

Raven frowned. "Jinx, I told you that I just wanted to-"

Starfire interrupted Raven. "Come, Sister Raven! Sister Jinx is correct! Do not be the stick in the mud! Let us go and frolic for a little while to the beats of this heavy sounding Earth music!"

"I thought that YOU wanted to go the mall."

Starfire shrugged. "The mall will always be there, but it is rare that I get to spend the time with my sister teammates in the singular pursuit of joy with abandon and to have nobody recognize us for who we are! I want to move my body to the timing of the Earth music and I want to share this wonder with you and sister Jinx!"

Raven sighed again. "Fine."

"Great!" Jinx said from the other side of the car. She pointed to a back entrance that was away from the line of people waiting to get in. "That's where we are headed!"

Raven blinked. "What's the deal with that door?"

"Just trust me!" Jinx grinned.

Jinx banged on the door and a few minutes later a hulking bald man in a black suit opened it. He furrowed his brow at the three girls.

"Sorry ladies, but this entrance is off limits. You'll have to wait in line like everyone else."

"Hey Bobby!" Jinx chirped.

The man called Bobby frowned at the formerly pink Titan. "Do I know you?"

"I should hope so. It's me, Jinx."

Bobby scrutinized Jinx's face for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Holy shit! It IS you! The fuck did you do to yourself?"

Jinx grinned. "I'm in disguise!"

"I would never guessed it was you!" Bobby smiled. His face went from being intimidating to surprisingly friendly. "How have you been? I heard you're running with the Teen Titans now!"

"I'm doing surprisingly well considering." Jinx gestured to her cast. "Had a bit of a disagreement with a bad guy a few weeks ago, so I'm still healing."

Bobby looked at the other two girls. "So who are these two?"

"The brunette is Rae and the redhead is Cory," Jinx said, "they're friends of mine."

"Well, come on in!" Bobby said with a grin. He held the door open for them. "Welcome to the VIP room!"

Raven and Starfire glanced at each other as Jinx ushered them through the door.

* * *

Raven was starting to get irritated. Actually, she had passed irritation a few hours before. Now she was approaching full on anger. So far they had been to four different clubs around the city. It seemed that Jinx knew the doorman at every club they'd been to and was able to get them in past the lines. One of the clubs they had gone to, somebody had left a deep, ass-shaped dent in the hood of the Fiesta. Raven was pretty confident that she could repair the dent with her power, but it was getting later and later and she was getting tired.

At every club, there was no shortage of men willing to buy the underaged girls drinks and Raven found that doubly surprising and uncomfortable at the same time. While Raven stuck with water, Jinx seemed to pound drink after drink down and appeared to show little reaction to the alcohol. The formerly pink Titan would even hobble out to the dance floors and managed to rock herself out into a sweaty mess. Starfire was also living it up with Jinx, though Raven hadn't seen the Tamaranean princess imbibe at all.

A peculiar emotion assaulted Raven's empathic senses. It was a like a warm red mixed with shades of blue. It seemed a lot like lust mixed with some amusement.

"Hey baby," A good looking blond man smelling strongly of cologne sat next to Raven. "You're looking a little lonely. My name is Dave, what's yours?"

Raven frowned at the emotional source called Dave.

"I'm nobody of consequence, Dave."

"Oh don't be like that," Dave said with a smile, "someone as beautiful as you... it's a crime that you're by yourself. Let me at least buy you a drink."

Raven arched an eyebrow at Dave. "Look, Dave, you seem like a really nice guy. But I'm here with my friends and I have a boyfriend. So I'm really not interested."

"Oh? Is your boyfriend here with you?"

"No."

"Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Dave said, sliding closer and putting his arm around Raven's shoulders, "and I think you would have a really good time."

"Why don't you-" Raven began.

"Sister, is this man bothering you?"

Raven glanced up and saw a very sweaty Starfire. The Tamaranean's face was smiling, but her eyes were not. Considering Starfire was almost six feet tall, it was very easy for her to come across as intimidating when she so desired.

"Oh," Dave said, "I didn't know your sister was here! My name is Dave. You're very beautiful, miss...?"

"I think my sister may not be interested in your advances, Dave," Starfire said, her smile unchanged, "so it may be wise for you to remove your arm and be doing of the fucking off, right?"

Dave blinked at that for a moment. "I'm sorry?"

"You will be," Raven said, removing the blond man's arm from her shoulders, "if you don't actually fuck off."

"Alrighty then," Dave murmured, standing up, "Sorry to have bothered you." He gave Raven a wide smile showing off perfectly white teeth. "But if you change your mind about that drink, here's my number." He handed Raven a card. Then he waved and walked away.

Raven looked at the card. "' _Dave's Greatest Gift To Women_ '" she read on the front. She flipped it over. "' _555-524-0812_.'" Raven tossed the card on the floor. "Does that actually work for him?"

Shaking her head, Raven stood up and looked at Starfire. The Tamaranean looked a little unsteady on her feet.

"Thanks for helping me out, Star." Raven squinted at other woman. "Are you ok?"

"I am simply glorious, sister!" Starfire replied. She grinned and this time the smile reached her eyes.

Raven watched her for a moment. Then she looked out towards the dance floor. "We are done. I'm collecting Jinx and we're leaving."

Jinx appeared with a half-empty glass in her hand almost as if on cue. She was laughing with a handsome dark haired man who was helping her walk. Raven narrowed her eyes as Jinx glanced over.

"Uh oh," Jinx said, "I guess it's time to leave." She smiled at the man she was with. "It was a great pleasure speaking with you, Derek."

"It was a great pleasure talking to you too," Derek said smiling. He leaned in to kiss Jinx and was met with her hand blocking his face. Jinx laughed. "You're a funny guy, Derek! Thanks for the drinks!"

Jinx hobbled over to the other two Titans as Derek called out to her from behind. "Call me, ok?"

"We gotta leave before Derek tries to get his hand up my skirt again," Jinx growled. She turned and smiled again at Derek and waved. "Guy's a major league creep."

They left the club and as they approached the car, Raven noticed the driver's side window was smashed in.

"Well that's just great," Raven fumed.

Jinx leaned over and examined the window. "Looks like they were gonna steal the car."

"Why did they not then steal it?" Starfire asked in a slow voice.

"Probably realized it was a fucking Fiesta."

Raven opened the door and swept the glass out with her power.

"Just get the fuck in," Raven growled. She wasn't entirely sure she could fix the broken glass, and she really wanted to just leave.

* * *

"Drive-thru," Jinx repeated as they drove past another fast food place, "I'm starving, Rae. Let's just hit up a drive-thru."

Raven glanced at the other woman with a frown. The wind in her face from the open window was already getting on Raven's nerves.

"Jinx, we've been out all night. You've done pretty much fuck-all in helping me refresh my driving skills. All I've done is change our faces and chauffeur you around to different clubs."

"Ok fine," Jinx growled back, "You want a refresher? Start with giving this fucking roller skate some goddamned gas already! And get off at this next exit and fucking pull into the goddamned McDonalds!"

"The posted limit is 55 and we have food at the Tower."

"Nobody DOES the fucking posted limit, Rae, and all that's in the fridge at the Tower is Beast Boy's fucking tofu!"

"I drive the posted limit," Raven responded, "and I obey the rules of the road." She glanced hard at Jinx. "Really, what was the point of tonight if it wasn't to help me drive?"

Jinx shrugged. "You've gotten much better and more confident behind the wheel, if I do say so myself."

Raven blinked at that. She had relaxed considerably behind the wheel since the night began. "I guess you're right."

"Great, now can we hit the drive-thru already?"

"Fine, we'll go hit a drive-thru on the way back."

Jinx grinned, then she wrinkled her nose up and sneezed. A pink bolt flew from her eyes and hit the dash. She widened her eyes.

"Oh, shit-"

Almost immediately, the right rear tire blew out. Raven gripped the wheel and attempted to correct the sudden swerve, but the car spun out and ended up off the road on the left side of the highway. Raven instinctively summoned her power and black energy braced up against the side of the car and prevented it from rolling down the small decline next to the road. The car rolled up against the magical barrier, then landed back on all four wheels with a jarring thump.

The three girls sat quietly for a moment, their eyes wide. Then Raven turned to Jinx.

"What the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry, I had to sneeze!"

"This happens when you sneeze?"

Jinx shrugged helplessly. "I'm just a tiny bit buzzed right now, ok? My powers are a bit harder to control when I'm buzzing!"

"Nobody told you to drink tonight," Raven seethed. She rubbed her face. "Azar help me."

"I'm sorry, ok?"

Raven glared at the other Titan. "This night has been nothing but a disaster. We've gone to all the clubs you wanted to go to, did pretty much what you wanted to do. All I wanted was to go for a simple drive and you made this into a 'girls night out!'" Raven made air quotes as she said that. "I'm beginning to doubt you even have a drivers license to begin with!"

"I wanted us to have fun together!" Jinx shouted back, "And I do have a drivers license!"

"Really? Let me see your license, Jinx!"

"I'm perfectly legal to drive and its legit," Jinx rambled as she pulled out her license.

Raven snatched the plastic ID from the sorceress' hand. She stared at it for a moment and then glared hard at Jinx.

"This says your name is 'Irma Gunt' and you were born in 1974."

Jinx giggled loudly. "It sounds even funnier when you say the name aloud!"

Raven and Starfire glanced at each other. "What are you talking about?"

Jinx grinned. "Say my name!"

"Jinx?"

"No! The one on the license!"

"'Irma Gunt?'"

Jinx chortled with glee. "How can you not pick up on it?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven demanded.

"Sound out the name on the license."

"It says 'Irma Gu-'..." Raven stopped, then narrowed her eyes at the pink Titan. "ok seriously?"

Jinx started laughing loudly.

"Dammit Jinx, I thought you were a licensed driver!" Raven bounced the plastic ID off the pink girl's forehead. "I actually trusted you to help me and you totally took advantage!"

"C'mon, Rae," Jinx growled back, rubbing her forehead. She retrieved the license from the car floor and stuck it back in her purse. "I'm a former super-villain, and technically an illegal immigrant! It wasn't like I could pop down to the RMV and get a license with my real name on it!" She glared at Raven for a moment and then blinked. "Actually, how did you get your license? Aren't you an illegal immigrant too? Being inter-dimensional and all."

Raven rubbed her temples for a moment, willing her anger back under her iron control before she started wrecking things.

 _Oh Azar, I need to meditate very very badly right now._

"You can still get a license in this state if you have proof of residency," Raven said, still rubbing her temples.

"Sisters, I am not of the feeling well," Starfire suddenly moaned from the back seat.

Raven turned around. "Star! Get out of the car if you're going to-"

Raven was interrupted by the liquid sounds of a Tamaranean princess puking in the back seat.

"Oh gross!" Jinx cried. She opened the passenger side door and tumbled out of the car as the stench rolled to the front. Raven jumped out of the drivers seat and opened the back door of the car. Jinx limped around and they both stared.

"Well," Jinx commented, "So that's what it looks like when you empty nine stomachs at once. She totally filled the wheel wells." She leaned slightly forward. "Are those chicken bones? When did you eat chicken wings, Star?"

"I'm sorry, sister Raven!" Starfire bawled from the backseat. Raven reached in and helped the messy Tamaranean out of the car and held her as she cried.

"It's ok, Star," Raven murmured, "We can clean it up."

Jinx wrinkled her nose. "That's some strong smelling stuff. Maybe we can hose her off."

"You aren't helping. What in the name of Azar did she have tonight?"

"The man at the club said it was called 'Sex on the Beach' but I informed him that I would do no such thing," Starfire slurred.

Jinx glanced at Raven, then looked at Starfire.

"Starfire honey, just how many of those did you have?"

Starfire looked confused and teary eyed as she silently counted on her fingers. "That many, I believe. They were quite yummy."

Raven looked back at Jinx. "Explain to me why those men were offering to buy us drinks when the three of us are underaged."

"First of all, they didn't know that." Jinx smirked, holding up her license, "And secondly, I'm 42, you know."

"Once again, you aren't helping, Irma."

Starfire continued in a wavering voice, "It was the Steve that bought the 'Sex on the Beach' for me."

Raven frowned. "Who is Steve?"

"He was the man at the club, like the Dave." Starfire hiccupped and then burped.

Jinx's smile faded as a set of flashing lights pulled up behind the car. "Well shit, looks like help is here."

A female officer stepped out of the police car and shone her light on the three Titans faces.

"Hi," the cop said, "Rough night?" She focused the light on Starfire. "Is she ok?"

"Oh she's just fine, officer," Raven said in a monotone, "Just needed a little air."

Starfire threw up again. It was like a firehose on full stream as it splashed into the grass.

Jinx pinched her nose. "She must have missed a stomach."

"Oooh! I do not wish to ever have any more of the 'Sex on the Beach!'" Starfire wailed. She stopped for a moment and blinked. "Sisters, who is the Irma?"

* * *

I jolted awake from the sound of my cell phone ringing. I had dozed off in the main operations room with my laptop on my lap. Blearily, I glanced at my watch and realized it was almost 2:30 in the morning and Raven and the girls hadn't come back to the Tower. My phone rang again and I almost dropped my laptop grabbing it.

"H-hello?"

"Mark," Raven's voice sounded, "were you sleeping?"

"No, well, a little. I was waiting for you."

"I'm sorry." Raven's voice was tired sounding.

"Is everything ok? Are you guys alright?" I asked.

"No. Everything isn't ok. We're at a police station."

I sat up straight. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"We're not hurt, though Star is sick to her stomach... They impounded the car. Can you come and get us?"

I had never heard Raven sound so shaken and upset. But the woman I loved just asked me if I could come get her.

"I'm going to wake Vic. I don't have any other car here, so I'll get him to either lend me the T-Car or drive me. What station are you at?"

Raven rambled off the precinct number and I jotted it down. "Ok, hang in there. I'll be there as soon as I can, ok?"

"Ok," Raven sniffed. She almost sounded like a lost child. Then the line disconnected.

I jumped up from the couch and closed my laptop. Then I jogged down the hall to Cyborg's room and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, I heard him muttering. The door slid open and the metal man's burning red eye scanned my face.

"Somebody better be dead or burning," Cyborg growled.

"The girls are at a police station in Jump. I need to borrow your car."

Cyborg blinked at me for a moment. "You ain't driving my baby, but I'll drive you there. What precinct are they at?"

I handed him the precinct number I had written down. "Do you think we can leave Nightwing out of this?"

"Why?"

"Gut feeling."

Cyborg sighed. "Ok, we'll keep this on the down low. But you'd better fill me on on what the hell happened tonight."

I put up my hands. "Dude, I have no idea what happened. Raven borrowed my car and she and Star and Jinx went out to help Raven freshen her driving skills. I didn't expect them to stay out this late, nor did I expect Raven to call me from a police station." I hesitated for a moment. "Vic, Raven seemed really distressed. I'm worried about her."

Cyborg put a metal hand on my shoulder. "Raven is one of the strongest people I know. She'll be fine." He pushed me towards the elevator. "Let's get going."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Officer MacMillan said, "You three are Teen Titans?"

"Yes," Raven said softly. The glamour had faded and her chakra jewel flashed in the light. Despite having had nothing alcoholic to drink all night, Raven's head was pounding.

"So what were you doing drunk on the side of a public highway?"

"For the last time, we were not drunk."

"Your orange friend there had a blood alcohol level of .54. I'm surprised she's even alive." The cop glanced down at the tablet in front of him. "In fact, of the three of you, you're the only one who had no blood alcohol to speak of. Can you tell me what happened again?"

Raven sighed and rubbed her temples. "We were on the highway and we had a blowout. I pulled over and my friend got sick."

"Right right... so where did the other two get the booze?"

"I don't know. We stopped at a few clubs."

"Right right," MacMillan said again. He scrolled his tablet for a moment. "You do know that one of your 'companions' is a former felon named Jinx, right? Did she procure alcohol from somewhere? This is very serious, young lady. Underaged drinking is against the law."

The door to the interrogation room opened and to Raven's relief, Cyborg and Mark walked in with a couple of other officers.

"How ya doin', Officer MacMillan," Cyborg said in a friendly voice, "We're here to collect our people and get out of your hair."

MacMillan stood up. "Just so you're aware, two of these three ladies were publicly intoxicated and they're underaged." He turned and stared at Mark. "You don't look like a Teen Titan. You their lawyer or something?"

Mark blinked. "N-no."

Cyborg smiled. "Are these ladies under arrest for anything? Because we can certainly get some of JLU's lawyers down here."

"Well, no, but..."

"Great! So like I said, we'll just collect our people and be out of your hair."

MacMillan sighed. "Fine. They can leave. Though you might want to get your orange friend to a hospital. She may have alcohol poisoning."

Mark's eyes went wide. "Why didn't you send her to the hospital already?"

"Because she's absurdly strong and stated she didn't want to go anywhere with the EMTs. We decided not to argue."

* * *

I took Raven's hand in mine as we left the station. Starfire was walking a little erratically, but seemed to be fine with finding the T-Car. Jinx was remarkably silent as she limped forward on her cast.

The cops told me I had to come back sometime the following day to get my car out of impound. Then they told me they would be glad to see it go. Something about an odor. When we got back to the Tower, we found a stern and unhappy looking Nightwing. His face melted in concern though when he saw Starfire's condition. The alien princess started crying as soon as Nightwing hugged her and the two of them vanished towards his room. Jinx glanced back at the rest of us and shrugged.

"Don't wake me too early," the pink Titan said. Then she limped towards the stairs, headed to her room.

I looked at Cyborg. "Thanks, Vic."

"No problem." Cyborg touched Raven's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "You need anything, little sis, you come talk to me. Ok?"

Raven nodded. Then Cyborg left to go to his room. I took Raven to her room and she opened the door. I looked at her face.

"You want me to stay?"

Raven nodded again. I followed her into the room and closed the door.

The dark Titan assumed the lotus position in her meditation circle and began softly chanting her mantra. Within a few moments, she levitated up about a foot or so and hovered unmoving in the air, her eyes closed. I sat down in her reading nook and watched her for a little while before I dozed off.

A few hours must have passed before I felt myself awakened by a small hand poking at my forehead. I opened my eyes and found Raven staring at me. She was dressed for bed and wore one of my oversized t-shirts that I had given her.

"It's almost 4:30 in the morning," Raven said quietly, "come to bed."

I stood up and stretched and then followed Raven to her bed. Then I stripped off my pants, leaving just my boxer-briefs and t-shirt and crawled in.

Raven settled into the other side of the bed facing away from me, and buried her face in her pillow.

"Fucking Jinx. Fucking Starfire. Fucking police. Fucking clubs. Fucking Steve. Fucking Dave," I heard her mutter.

I blinked. "Who are Steve and Dave?"

"I have no idea, but I wish them both a lot of pain."

We were quiet for minute.

"You want to talk about it?" I asked quietly.

"No. Not right now. Right now, I just... I need to sleep, but I'm having a hard time doing it."

I was silent for a moment. "So... what happened to the car?"

"You need a new tire and drivers side window. The hood is dented and you'll probably need to replace all the upholstery in the back seat."

I blinked. "Replace the upholstery?"

"Starfire puked in the back seat."

"Well, that's something I could probably have steam cleaned out..."

Raven turned her head and looked me in the eyes.

"You've never seen a Tamaranean empty nine stomachs before. They have a lot of digestive enzymes. In fact, I'll be surprised if there isn't a hole in the floor tomorrow."

I snorted. Then I covered my mouth to muffle my laughter.

Raven blinked. "What's so funny?"

"C'mon, Raven. You just told me deadpan that an alien vomited acid in the back of my car. I can't help it. That's goddamned funny."

Raven stared at me for a moment, then her face relaxed and she arched an eyebrow.

"I guess that is a little funny, now that I think of it." She frowned. "But what about your car?"

"I told you already. It's just a car. It's insured, though I'm not entirely sure it won't be totalled if Starfire's puke really does burn a hole through it. But I bought the thing off Craigslist."

"But don't you need a car?"

"Sure. I'll probably just find another car just like it on Craigslist. Considering who I work with and where I live, I don't think I'll ever actually go out and buy a brand NEW car." I winked at her. "Especially if my girlfriend takes it out like this."

"So you'll never trust me with your car again."

I turned over to face her.

"You guys came back unharmed. I don't care about the car as long as the people I love are safe." I gently kissed her forehead. "If anything ever happened to you, I would have no idea what to do with myself." I grinned at her again. "But I have to hear this whole story in the morning, because it sounds like an epic comedy."

Raven watched me thoughtfully for a few moments.

"I have no idea what it is about you. Between your calming emotions and your bizarre sense of humor, you manage to put my mind at ease. Most boyfriends would flip out if their girlfriend trashed their car, but you are so laid back about it I'd almost think you were comatose. What's the deal with you?"

I shrugged. "Maybe it's my overwhelming love for you."

"Maybe you're full of shit."

I arched my eyebrow at that. "Ok, I'll admit that I'm not exactly jumping for joy here that my car might be wrecked, but over the last month or so I've learned a lot of things about myself. Being kidnapped and almost beaten to death tends to change one's perspective you know. I could be dead now. I could be rotting in some jungle in Colombia. I could still be a prisoner being used as a punching bag for cock-headed douchebags named Hive. All things considered, it's just a fucking car."

Raven rolled over to face me.

"I think I need some intense sexual activity to use as an emotional crutch to help me get over the events of this evening."

I blinked at her innocently.

"Is that the seduction part?" I asked.

"Yes," Raven replied, then she kissed me.


	12. Chapter 12

_So I must apologize for the length of time it took to get this chapter up. I had some serious writer's block, but with some help and inspiration from my good friend **Golem XIV** (go check out his stuff!) I think I'm finally back on track. I still have some loose odds and ends, but the important meat I think is good to go. I do have to mention that I do regard these chapters as rough drafts and subject to change, though mostly cleanup and minor changes to keep characters in character. There are aspects of this chapter that I intend on tightening up at some point. But overall, I'm pleased._

 _So please enjoy and don't forget to review! Reviews are like alcohol for us writers. We can quit drinking them any time, but we just don't want to right now._

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** Once again, I don't own anything to do with DC or the Teen Titans. But I do own all the OCs. They are MINE. _

_-Meatlips_

* * *

"You have no idea how much I just want to yell at the three of you," Nightwing said sternly.

Raven, Starfire, and Jinx, sat quietly in the conference room across from the Titans leader. Starfire had her head in her hands and was wincing noticeably.

"When you are outside this Tower," Nightwing continued, "you are supposed to uphold the ideals of being Teen Titans. Role-models. Instead, you went out clubbing and drinking, trashed Mark's car, and wound up in police custody. I'm disappointed in all three of you. I expected better."

"For the record," Jinx interjected, "It was entirely my idea. I insisted we go out clubbing."

Nightwing stared at the pink sorceress for a moment. Then he glanced at Raven and Starfire.

"Is that true?"

"Sure," Raven responded.

"It was indeed Sister Jinx's notion," Starfire murmured. She rubbed her forehead again. "I do not like the over hang. It is very unpleasant."

Jinx frowned. "Thanks for the support, girls." She turned her pink gaze back to Nightwing. "So does this mean I'm fired?"

Nightwing blinked. "Fired?"

"Yeah, like off the team. C'ya later. Adios muchachos."

Nightwing frowned at the pink sorceress. "If we kicked people off the team every time they pulled some stupid shit, we'd have nobody left."

Jinx blinked in surprise. "Really? I'm not in trouble?"

"Oh, all three of you are in trouble. Look, it's really noble of you to want to accept responsibility, Jinx," Nightwing said, "but we don't work that way here."

Jinx blinked. "Ok... so then how do we work here?"

"I'll make it simple. It's not my job to punish you for doing stupid shit. We're all pretty much adults here now. Considering our careers, we've had to grow up fast. As the leader of this team, I expect you all to act like fucking grown-ups and to be worthy of the faith the public puts in us. When shit like this happens, it shakes that faith and makes it harder for people to trust us. Basically I expect you to fucking KNOW BETTER. That's how we work here."

Jinx was silent for a moment. She looked abashed.

"Well, we were glamoured, so nobody really recognized us," Jinx finally said.

Nightwing arched an eyebrow. "Glamoured?"

"I cast a spell to alter our appearances," Raven replied, "so as Jinx said, nobody recognized us."

"Thank god for small favors," Nightwing muttered, "At any rate, you three fucked up. Own it. Learn from it. Don't do it again." He stood up. "Lecture over. I'm gonna take my under-aged self to the kitchen and have a BEER, STARFIRE." He glared at the Tamaranean princess for a moment, then left the conference room.

"Nightwing is very angry with me," Starfire mumbled, her face resting on her crossed arms on the table. "He was not too happy to hear about the Steve who bought me the 'Sex on the Beach,' though I assured him no such act occurred."

"Look, I'm sorry, ok?" Jinx grumbled, "I just thought it would be cool for the three of us to go out and have some fun. Spend some time together and maybe get to know each other better. We're the only girls on the immediate team, you know."

Raven stretched her arms. "Well, Nightwing is right about us needing to own it. We'll square away what we need to and get over it."

Jinx blinked at the dark Titan. "You seemed remarkably relaxed this morning, at least compared to how you were last night. I thought you were gonna crack the earth in half when the cops showed up."

"I meditated."

"You meditated..." Jinx narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you lying bitch. You got laid, didn't you? You came back here and jumped right on your boy's bone!"

Raven frowned. "That's amazingly crude, Jinx."

"Amazingly crude? You should talk-"

Starfire's fist slammed against the conference room table, sending a noticeable crack along the length.

"Please stop yelling," Starfire whispered, "I do not care if sister Raven came back and did the jumping on the bone. My head is of the hanging over. Every time one of you raises your voice, it creates an echo in my _nerblaks_. A PAINFUL echo, that makes me desire to twist off both of your heads like the caps to the bottles of beer roots."

Raven and Jinx stared with wide eyes at the glowering Tamaranean princess for a moment. Jinx leaned over to Raven.

"She doesn't handle hangovers very well, does she?" Jinx murmured softly.

"I wouldn't know," Raven replied, equally softly, "this is the first time I've ever seen Starfire hung over." Raven leaned towards Starfire. "Star, why don't you go back to your room and lay down for a little while? I'll bring you some herbal tea that should help your head feel better."

Starfire arose from the table. "That is indeed the best idea I have heard since yesterday. Good morning, sisters." With that, the Tamaranean princess left the conference room. On foot.

Raven stood up. "I think I'm in agreement with Star, though I don't think I can get away with laying down right now." She glanced at the door. "I should probably heal Starfire's hangover when I bring her the tea, though it would be better if she just hydrated herself."

Jinx chuckled as Raven moved to the door. The dark Titan turned to arch an eyebrow at the pink sorceress.

"What's so funny now?"

"You're walking funny again."

Raven frowned. "That just does not get old to you, does it?"

"Nope."

* * *

Raven carefully tapped on the door button to Starfire's room. A tray with a small teapot and teacup floated behind the dark Titan, engulfed in black energy. The Tamaranean's normally bright and pink room was uncharacteristically dark as the shades were drawn. Starfire lay curled up on her round pink bed with Silkie clutched in her arms.

"Star, I brought you some tea."

"Mmm. Thank you sister."

Raven mentally set the tray down on the nightstand and then sat down on the edge of Starfire's bed. She reached out and gently placed her hand on the Tamaranean girl's brow and then concentrated on opening the narrowed blood vessels she sensed there. Within moments, Starfire sighed and sat up, her eyes much clearer.

"Look, Star," Raven began, "I'm sorry about what happened last night."

Starfire picked up the teacup and delicately took a sip. She glanced back at Raven.

"I am the one who should be of the apologizing, sister Raven," Starfire said, "I did not realize the effect of the 'Sex on the Beach' and I consumed too many. I am sorrowful for the damage I have caused to friend Mark's vehicle."

Raven shook her head. "That's not your fault, Star. I should have realized earlier in the evening that Jinx had no real intention on helping me drive. I should have stopped things before it got all out of control."

Starfire put her teacup down and reached over, taking Raven's pale hand in her own.

"Do not blame sister Jinx. I truly believe she wished to spend the time with us having fun. I think she has not had many opportunities to do the hanging out with fellow girls. Also, I did enjoy our evening together."

Raven blinked. She sensed the amusement coming off of Starfire, now that the reddened pain of the Tamaranean's hangover was abated.

"You really had fun?"

Starfire frowned for a moment. "I did not enjoy the spinning of the car, nor the undignified manner by which I did the soiling of the backseat, but other than that, I did indeed have the fun with my sisters."

Raven smirked. "I have to admit, I have never witnessed so much barf coming out of a single person. It would actually have been funny if it hadn't been so gross."

Starfire rubbed her face. "Please, do not remind me of that event. Tamaranean stomachs are pressurized, which is why we can consume so much." She shook her head. "But when we are sick, we avoid consuming anything to excess, lest what you witnessed last night occurs."

"Filled the wheel wells.."

"Please!" Starfire exclaimed, her face turning slightly green.

"Sorry, Star," Raven said while standing up. "But it's definitely funny in retrospect. I'll let you rest then. Make sure you drink a lot more fluids. I can't re-hydrate you with healing alone."

Raven started to move towards the door, when an amused laugh stopped her in her tracks. She looked back at Starfire.

"Something else funny?"

Starfire shook her head with a wide grin.

"Not at all... It is just that I believe sister Jinx is right. You DO the walking funny after you have had sex!"

Raven frowned. "Not you too..."

* * *

I stood in the Titan's garage and stared mournfully at my poor car. Raven had been right. Both wheelwells in the back seat had been completely eaten through and the car itself smelled horribly of a mixture of rotten chicken and sewer gasses. I simply couldn't believe that Starfire had produced such a corrosive substance and in such volumes.

I had to have the car towed back to the Tower since it was un-drivable. Since it was Sunday, I had been concerned the impound lot wouldn't be open for me to get the car, but they opened the gates for the Teen Titans. Raven surprised me by handing me a bunch of cash earlier that morning, so she effectively paid the impound cost. The JLU insurance adjuster wasn't going to show up until Tuesday, but the phone agent told me they would probably total it anyway, considering the age of the car and the fact it wasn't drivable. I was hoping to at least recoup the cost of the car itself, but when I asked the agent on the phone about it, he pretty much laughed in my ear.

Beast Boy wandered around my car, his nose wrinkled.

"Whoa, dude... it totally reeks."

"Thanks."

"I mean, it smells like a dead dude's feet after being in a jungle for a month. Like rotten cheese and stuff."

"I get it."

"Like total rotten ass that's been eaten by a zombie and then barfed back up..."

"I know."

"Like the stanky underpants of some hobos that got lost in the jungle and then had to eat each other to survive...

"Dude!" I glared at the young changeling. "I get it already!"

Beast Boy smiled wryly at me. "You give any thought as to how the girls are gonna make this up to you?"

I frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, they trashed the car. Shouldn't you get to decide their punishment?"

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Punishment, huh? And what would you suggest?"

Beast Boy now grinned. "I'd make them do a bikini car wash until they earn back the money you're gonna lose on this wreck!"

I crossed my arms and studied the dented hood. While the idea of Raven, Starfire, and Jinx, wearing bikinis and covered in slippery soapy suds was definitely appealing, I wasn't about to insult their pride by suggesting such a sexist fantasy. Also the fact that any one of them could physically cripple me sort of played a part in that decision.

"I've already worked it out with them. They're gonna be my collared love slaves for the rest of their natural lives."

"Now that would be awe-" Beast Boy blinked. "Wait, really?"

"No. I'm gonna collect the money from the insurance and then buy another used car on Craigslist."

Raven glided into the garage and also stared morosely at my car.

"Well," Raven finally said, "Now you have an excuse to get something better."

"Indeed," I replied, "Then again, pretty much anything is better than this. I can actually see the garage floor through the rear wheel wells." I glanced at the left side of the car where the sideview mirror was missing and the side panels looked crushed. "What happened here?"

"We spun out. Had to stop the car from flipping over."

"And the steering wheel? Why is it bent?"

Raven shrugged. "Had to grip something when we spun out."

Cyborg came over and whistled as he looked at the car.

"Well," Cyborg mused, "I might be able to fix her up."

I turned to look at him. "You can?"

"Yeah, I can armor her up, maybe drop in a supercharger, autonav... oooh maybe put in some hover capability!"

"Now that would be awesome! Can you really do that shit?"

Cyborg shook his head. "Nah, man. This thing's fucked."

I frowned at the metal man. "You are such a tease."

"I know, right?"

I sighed, then I popped open the dented hood to look at the engine. It was a blackened wreck.

"How did this happen?" I asked Raven.

Raven glanced into the engine compartment. "Maybe when Jinx accidentally cursed the car?"

I blinked. "Jinx cursed my car?"

"She sneezed. That's when we got the blowout."

I closed the hood and turned to gaze at Raven.

"Seriously, what did my car ever do to you girls?"

Raven raised her hood and slumped her shoulders.

"I said I was sorry, Mark." She glanced up at me from under her hood. "Whatever the insurance company gives you, I'll cover the difference, ok?"

I blinked. "Raven, I'm not pissed off at you about the car. I'm just glad the three of you are all right, especially when you're talking about curses and spinouts and almost flipping over."

"I know, but I still feel badly about the damage. You trusted me with your car and look at how it's returned to you."

I shrugged. "I guess there's something to be said about lending cars to superheroes."

"What's that?"

"Be wary about the types of shit they can do with it." I glanced over at Cyborg. "Which reminds me, now that I'm sans a car, can you still give me a ride to my appointment tomorrow?"

"Sure, I think I can do that."

"I'll come with you," Raven said.

"Holy shit, what crawled into the garage and died?" Jinx called from the doorway. She hobbled in on her crutch and peered at the car as well. "I guess it does look worse in the light, huh?"

"Morning, mama!" Beast Boy teased, "Heard you had the funnest time last night! You get yo' winks in?"

Jinx frowned at the changeling. Then she hobbled over to me.

"Look Mark, I'm sorry about what we did to your car. For the record, Raven was driving."

"What's that?" I asked, "You want to pay for everything? That's incredibly generous of you, miss Jinx!"

Jinx shrugged. "It sounded more like 'go fuck yourself' to me when I said it in my head. But seriously, I'd be more than happy to kick in, however I'm completely and totally broke."

Raven dropped her hood and arched an eyebrow at the pink sorceress. "How can you be broke? You should be getting paid regularly."

"Oh I'm sure when my merchandising contracts come in I'll eventually get a fat chunk," Jinx replied, "but that might take awhile, considering nobody really knows who I am outside of being a former villain."

"And then Mark will buy your action figure too!" Beast Boy crowed.

Jinx turned to squint at me. "What's he talking about?"

"Oh just that Mark here has all of our action figures..." Cyborg said with a grin, "And two versions of Rae-Rae!"

I felt my face grow hot. "Hey, I bought those action figures years ago!" I looked helplessly to Raven, hoping she would bail me out of future ridicule from Jinx.

Raven gave me a flat stare with her arms crossed. "He also has our bobble-head figures."

And she threw me right under the bus.

Jinx was grinning as she looked into my face. "Action figures of the Teen Titans... Oh Mark... this is just too... delicious."

"Aren't we forgetting what you girls did to my car?" I huffed.

Jinx waved her hand at my car. "Cars come and go, Mark. But collecting action figures... you keep them in their original packaging, don't you?"

"Uhhh..."

"And two versions of Raven!" Jinx continued with glee, "you have two action figures of your girlfriend, still in their original packages I bet. Why, it's downright creepy!" Jinx's grin grew wider. "Did you get the Titans here to sign the boxes for you?" She fluttered her eyelashes at me. "If you promise to buy my action figure when it comes out, I'll gladly autograph it for you!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg were almost rolling on the garage floor in laughter. Even Raven was smirking.

"Ok, ok," Jinx said while waving her hands, "I'm just messing with you. Really." She looked hard into my eyes, her grin completely gone. "I do have one question for you, Mark."

"What?"

"Did you already buy the new Nightwing figure with the kung-fu grip?"

Beast Boy and Cyborg were now howling with laughter and holding each other upright.

Beast Boy gasped. "Stop it! Stop it! I'm gonna pee myself!"

I was pretty much devoid of any sort of come-back to all this. I hung my shoulders in defeat.

"You guys all suck," I grumbled.

"Oh stop taking it so personally," Jinx said, poking me in the head. "Seriously though, I am sorry for cursing your wheels. I'll kick some money to you as soon as I get my financial situation straight. It's still somewhat of a new thing for me, you know."

"What is?"

"Getting paid regularly instead of just knocking over banks."

I frowned. "I thought you were already legit."

"Yeah," Jinx said, "I was also dirt poor and barely scraping by on the stipend JLU was paying. Bussed tables between JLU gigs to pay for groceries. Lucky for you, they had me undercover with the people that kidnapped your punk ass. Though the only things I managed to get out of that job was you and my old friends. Other than that, there was no real value-add to me even being there."

"That's not true," Raven said, "Nobody would even have known the location of that camp until you figured it out."

Jinx grinned again. "Oh yeah. I got that stupid map framed and hanging in my room."

I crossed my arms and gave the pink Titan my most solemn look.

"Jinx, I'd still appreciate you kicking in some money for the car."

Jinx frowned. "Hey, I already said I would. Jeez. You'd think I hadn't saved your life or something."

"I definitely owe you for saving my life and getting me out of there." I narrowed my eyes. "But cursing my car? Who does that?"

Jinx looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

"Ok, I have a great idea how you can pay me back for saving you, and I'll definitely contribute to your busted-ass car fund as well."

Raven arched an eyebrow. "What's your 'great idea?'"

Jinx glanced over at Raven. Her chesire grin spread on her face.

"Raven, you and Mark come out on a double date with me and Wally."

Raven frowned. "I don't do double-dates."

"Hey, how come me and Vic aren't invited?" Beast Boy exclaimed.

Jinx looked at the changeling. "Well, if you and Vic are together like that... I guess you can come along."

Cyborg shook his head. "Nah man. First, we are NOT like that at all. Second, you KNOW I got a girlfriend."

"You're still with that Sarah chick?" Jinx asked.

"Yup."

Raven floated over, her face dark and her eyes narrow.

"This had better not be about your inane 'swap' idea, Jinx."

I blinked at that. "Swap idea?"

Jinx's face turned slightly red. "I already told you that I was kidding about that, Rae." She glanced at me. "Don't worry about it, big man."

I arched an eyebrow at that new nickname. Since Jinx was probably shorter than me by an inch and taller than Raven by four inches, I had a pretty good idea where the nickname came from. Also, it was annoying.

"When is Wally gonna be around?" I asked.

Jinx looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think he said he'll be here on Wednesday. He'll probably stick around for the rest of the week." Jinx grinned. "After all, he's gotta help out his poor invalid girlfriend."

* * *

 _I found myself in the middle of a vast desert. Windswept sand stretched out in all directions from me and the sky seemed to roll with fiery lines like an old analog television tuner. I walked for what seemed like miles across the heated sand. In the distance I heard the sound of a crowd of voices. But they weren't regular voices. They were the sounds of many throats roaring in unison. Then I saw them, marching across the sand towards me. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. They seemed like zombies, but they moved with a purpose. They seemed to focus on me and suddenly drop down to all fours and bound forward in my direction. They began to look more like slavering wolves than people._

 _I turned and fled across the desert, slipping and falling repeatedly in the sand. The wind picked up and flung stinging bits of sand into my face. In the distance, I saw the familiar figures of the Teen Titans. There seemed to be more of them than I was used to. I ran to them, seeking salvation... but they were different. A little older. I saw a tall man in a dark trench coat there. Long black hair and a narrow handsome face. He had his arm around... Raven. They turned to each other, gazing into each other's eyes. Then the man bent his head to kiss Raven and she returned his passion. I yelled and ran towards them as they embraced and their kiss deepened..._

I jolted awake. My heart was racing and I was covered in sweat. Who was that guy? What did it mean? My chest ached and I wanted to throw up. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Melvin looked up from where he was curled up at the foot of the bed to see what I was up to.

"Go on back to sleep, Mel-cat," I whispered. I rubbed my eyes and was surprised to find my cheeks were completely wet.

I stood up and staggered into the bathroom and turned on the light. I stared at my haggard pathetic fat face that I woefully tried to hide behind my beard. That guy seemed so real. So fitting for Raven's dark personality. I did not believe in things like fate or destiny. I had worked too hard for the things I had in my life to give credence to dreams or prophecy. But then again, I never dreamed things like that. Unsettling. A barren world being invaded by animalistic zombies while the woman I loved pretty much made out with another dude. I fell to my knees and braced my forehead against the edge of the sink, trying to catch my breath.

 _This was just a fucking dream. Just a fucking stupid dream. Get it together, Goldman, you fat pathetic slob. Even if it came true and Raven left you for some trenchcoated gothic douchebag, you would get through it._

I opened my eyes and pulled myself to my feet. Then I stared at my pale face again in the mirror.

 _Seriously, what the fuck do I have to offer to someone like Raven? I'm a chubby weak and ordinary human. I couldn't fight my way out of a wet paper bag with titanium knuckle-dusters and a how-to guide on fighting wet paper bags. Would it be so fucking surprising if some tall and beautiful goth dude showed her how much of a real pathetic asshole I am?_

I heard someone knock on the bathroom door.

"Mark, it's Raven. Are you ok?"

 _She must have felt my emotions spike and ported into my room,_ I thought. I splashed some water on my face and then scrubbed my face dry.

"Just a second..." I said. Then I slid open my bathroom door.

Raven stood there in an oversized sleeping t-shirt. Her eyes looked tired and her face showed concern.

"I just had a bad dream," I said.

"It must have been one hell of a bad dream," Raven replied. She seemed to search my face. "Whatever it was about, it really shook you. Your anguish woke me from a sound sleep all the way upstairs."

I gently moved past her and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah, it really shook me up alright," I said softly.

Raven watched me for a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "Not right now. I just really want to get back to sleep."

Raven studied my face. "Do want me to... stay?"

I gave her a weak smile. "As much as I'd love that, it's ok, I'm a big boy."

Raven crossed her arms and gave me a disapproving look. "Don't be so quick to turn it down when your girlfriend offers to sleep with you. We are in a relationship and we've slept together before. We've also had sex before and I'm sure we'll do it again."

"I know, but I also know you aren't really big on the whole 'cuddle' thing."

"Shut up and get into bed."

I climbed back into bed and Raven joined me. Then she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close and I settled into her arms with my head resting against her chest. I felt her kiss the top of my head as I lay listening to her heart beating in a slow and solid rhythm. I found it strangely comforting.

"It... it wasn't about the car, was it?" Raven suddenly said. Her voice echoed in her chest.

I chuckled. "No, it wasn't about the car."

* * *

Monday morning found me in the back of the T-Car and on the way to my appointment. In front, Raven rode shotgun while Cyborg drove. It felt a bit weird to be chauffeured by two of the Teen Titans, but Cyborg didn't mind and Raven, well, she had no intention on letting me go alone.

"I do appreciate you driving me, Vic," I said.

"Hey, no problem," Cyborg replied, "Least I could do since some crazy chicks trashed your wheels."

Raven frowned at Cyborg who stuck his tongue out at her. Then she turned to look at me.

"How long did they say it was going to take?"

"About an hour, with maybe half an hour to forty-five minutes to recover."

Thinking ahead, Raven and Cyborg wore some casual clothes instead of their uniforms. A black hoodie and some jeans for Raven and some large sweatpants and sweatshirt for Cyborg. Since they had planned on waiting for me, I could imagine it would have felt awkward for them to be in full Titans regalia while sitting in a waiting room. Though it wasn't like Cyborg could be confused with anyone else.

We pulled up to the surgeon's office and I got checked in. Then we sat in the waiting room. Cyborg looked a little uncomfortable, since the chairs were made for people without his herculean physique.

"So... what do they do exactly with an implant?" Raven asked me.

"Well, they're gonna cut into my gums down to the bone and bore a hole. Then they are going to install a titanium post that's like a screw."

I took out the info pamphlet that I had been sent that described the procedure and showed it to her.

"After they screw this thing in, they sew my gums up around it, and install a healing cap on the top."

"Oh, so they aren't actually installing a replacement tooth?" Cyborg asked.

"Nope," I said, "First I get the implant with the healing cap, then after a few months or so, I go to the dentist to get fitted for a crown. It's all very fucking expensive." I glowered. "I wish I could send fucking Hive the bill."

"I thought your insurance was covering this," Raven said.

"They are only covering half. They're paying for most of the implant, but I'm on the hook for the crown, unless I want to live with a metal screw cap in my mouth until next year."

The office door opened and a nurse came out with a clip board.

"Mark Goldman?"

"That's me," I sighed. I looked at the two Titans. "I guess I'll see you guys in an hour or so."

"Good luck, Mark," Cyborg said with a grin.

Raven simply nodded at me with a small smile.

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed since Mark had gone with the nurse. The waiting room was mostly empty since it was still early. Raven stretched herself and glanced around for something to read. Normally she would have thought to bring a book, but it had completely slipped her mind that morning. So now she found herself eyeing various teen magazines that featured celebrities and sports stars. Her eyes lit up briefly when she came across a Scientific American. Raven grabbed the magazine and glanced at Cyborg who looked like he was playing something on his phone. Then both their communicators began to pulse. Dropping the magazine, Raven stood up and nodded to Cyborg then she stepped outside to answer.

"Raven here, what is it?"

Nightwing's face appeared on the display.

"Control Freak is robbing a bank downtown. It's turned into a hostage situation and you and Vic are the closest. I need you guys to get over there. The rest of us will join you after."

Raven frowned. "I'm waiting for Mark to get out of his implant surgery. Can Vic just go?"

Nightwing shook his head. "Sorry. You'll have to come back for Mark. I need you both. The cops are saying that Control Freak's got a some kind of small army."

Raven rubbed her face. "That's great. First I trash his car, then I abandon him at the oral surgeon."

"I'm sorry, Raven."

"Whatever. We're heading out." Raven snapped her communicator closed then went back into the waiting room. "Come on Vic, we gotta go be superheroes."

Cyborg blinked. "What about Mark?"

"Nightwing said we'll have to come back for him."

Cyborg frowned. "Seems like a douchey thing to do, leaving him here like this."

Raven shrugged helplessly. "You think I'm happy about it? We have a job to do." She knocked on the nurses window. The nurse on duty slid it open. "We're friends of Mark Goldman. We have to run out, but we'll be back."

The nurse nodded. "Ok, when he's out I'll let him know."

"Thanks," Raven replied. She turned to Cyborg. "Let's go."

* * *

Control Freak glared down at the bound man that cowered on the floor.

"You cannot possibly believe that Captain Vong, being the most well regarded captain in the entire Trek fleet would have so easily turned traitor!"

"Look," the man said with a frown, "The show's writers made it pretty clear what Vong did and his motivation!"

Control Freak pointed his remote at the floor and hit the Play button. In an instant, a tall, pointy-eared man in a bright red uniform with gold chains across the breast, appeared with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Captain," Control Freak hissed, "Please explain to this fucking plebe that your honor as a Mithran noble would forbid you from ever betraying the Galaxy Fleet!"

Captain Vong glanced down his nose at the bound man and sneered. "I should think that I would not need to explain myself to the likes of him!" The Trek captain knelt down. "But I shall do so anyway!" He glanced back up at Control Freak. "Of course it would be more useful to employ a flash back to my youth on Mithra to help explain."

Control Freak sighed. "Just make do."

"Very well!"

Control Freak wandered away to the other side of the bank while the Warp Trek captain began to regale the hostage with his life story. Being able to now summon characters from Control Freak's favorite shows had been exciting at first. But now it was starting to border on boring. He cursed himself. He'd have been gone with all the money, but that bound up imp of a man had to insist that one of Control Freak's favorite characters had been a traitor on the show. This was a controversial point since the show never made it clear if Vong had betrayed the Fleet or not, so it was often argued in the more devoted circles of the fans of _Warp Trek_. And now the cops had barricaded the street in front of the bank.

Control Freak glanced at the other six hostages that were kneeling on the floor nearby.

"And what about you people?" Control Freak hissed at them, "Do you also think the most noble Captain in the Galaxy Fleet was a traitor?"

One of the female tellers shrugged. "If we say no, will you let us go?"

"I would consider it if you were being truthful."

One of security guards frowned. "Then what fucking difference does it make? Fine, Captain Vonk is not a traitor, ok?"

Control Freak frowned back. "It's Captain VONG, plebe!"

"Whatever."

Control Freak sighed and rubbed his face. His heavyset body swayed as he turned towards the vault entrance where five of the summoned large and red _Sandalorian_ warriors stood with the bags of money. The _Sandalorians_ unslung their laser rifles and awaited orders.

"Prepare to move out!" Control Freak called. He figured he could fight his way through the barricade. He really wanted to be gone now before the fucking Teen Ti-

"Oh my god, dude," Cyborg said from the front door, "Are those the red sand guys from _Warp Trek_?"

Control Freak gritted his teeth at the metal Titan. "Fire!"

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven chanted as she threw up a black shield in front of her and Cyborg. The barrage of improbable laser fire hammered into the shield. Cyborg converted his hand into his sonic cannon, then leaned around the shield and blasted one of the Sandalorians into particles.

"Boo-yah! _Warp Trek_ sucked!"

"Oh yeah?" Control Freak cried. He pointed his remote at the spot next to Cyborg. "Why don't you tell that to _Raxxor the Invincible_!"

A seven foot red humanoid monster that bristled with muscles and and a bony ridge over its eyes suddenly appeared next to Cyborg. It roared and swung at the metal Titan with a massive ironwood club. Cyborg caught the blow in his midsection and smashed through the banks glass doors. Raxxor then turned its rocky visage towards Raven.

"Now you too will feel the wrath of..." Control Freak blinked as he stared at Raven, "Hey, why aren't you in uniform?"

Raven frowned and then flung her shield into Raxxor, knocking the large monster off its feet.

"I wasn't expecting any bank robberies when I left the Tower this morning," Raven replied. Her black energy engulfed the monster as it lay on the floor and she proceeded to lift it up and slam it against the tiled marble of the bank floor. Repeatedly.

Raven turned to face the portly nerd as Cyborg climbed through the shattered remains of the doors. "Why don't you let these people go and just turn yourself in already? You know we're going to end up kicking your ass."

Control Freak pointed his remote at the hostages and a concrete box with heavy steel bars in the front suddenly enveloped them.

"Vong!" Control Freak yelled.

Raven suddenly saw stars as a red gloved hand suddenly grabbed the side of her head from behind and slammed her hard into the concrete wall. Raven vision clouded over with pain as she crumbled to the floor in front of the fictional Galaxy Fleet captain.

"Big mistake!" Cyborg growled. He swung his massive metal fist into Vong, causing the captain to explode into particles. Then Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at Control Freak who dodged behind a desk.

The _Sandalorian_ warriors began to fire their laser rifles at Cyborg. He picked up the heavy security desk near the door and launched it at the _Sandalorians_. The warriors scattered and took cover behind the bank counter.

"Look, CF," Cyborg said, walking toward the desk the heavyset nerd was hiding behind, "Just give it up, will ya? Let these people go and come quietly and I'm sure there's a nice padded room with a nice flatscreen just waiting for you."

"Hey Cyborg," Control Freak jeered, "You ever see that part in _Warp Trek_ , season seven, episode nine, when the crew of the _Intrepid_ walk the pirate plank over the _Tentacled Pit Of Doom_?" He jumped up and pointed his remote at Cyborg's feet. "Boom!"

The floor vanished and was replaced by a gaping pit filled with teeth and squirming tentacles.

"Well, shit..." Cyborg muttered as he fell in.

Raven opened her eyes and climbed unsteadily to her feet. She watched as the floor opened up into a vast black pit and Cyborg plunged down into it.

"Cyborg!" Raven cried. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Cyborg's fall was stopped as he became engulfed in Raven's black energy. She started to lift him out of the pit when a tooth covered tentacle suddenly shot up and wrapped itself around the metal Titan's leg.

"Gahh!" Cyborg yelled, "That's so frigging gross, man! Let go!"

He began kicking at the tentacle, trying to get it to release.

A black bird-a-rang suddenly slice through the tentacle.

"Sorry we were late," Nightwing said as he and the rest of the Titans poured into the bank.

Control Freak narrowed his eyes at the dark clad Titan leader.

"What the... is that you, Robin?"

Nightwing frowned. "It's Nightwing now."

"Goddamn!" Control Freak seethed, "I'm only out of it for a little while and people get delusions of grandeur!"

"Commander Technet, Warp Trek, Season three, Episode Five!" Beast Boy called out with a grin. "You gotta get more original, Control Dork!"

"Are we now commencing with the kicking of the ass?" Starfire asked Nightwing.

"Yup. Spread out and let's take him down."

"Wait!" Raven called out as she set Cyborg down near the door. "He's got...!"

Four Sandalorian warriors stood up from different locations behind the bank counter and started firing their laser rifles. A blast caught Starfire in the side as she hovered, knocking her to the floor.

"Hahahaha!" Control Freak giggled, "Face the mighty wrath of the _Sandalorian Elite!_ "

Raven gritted her teeth and summoned another magic shield. The Titans took cover behind it.

* * *

Outside the police cordon, a tall man on a Harley rode up and dismounted. He took in the scene with steely grey eyes.

"You're gonna hafta stay back, sir!" A police officer said, moving in front of the man.

The black clad rider arched an eyebrow at the cop. Then he crouched down and jumped high up into the air, arcing over the police line and landing at the bank entrance.

The cop blinked at that. Another cop leaned over. "Is he like a new Titan or something?"

"Beats me."

* * *

Raven's vision swam and her head hurt. She felt frustrated that she had let Control Freak's construct surprise her and injure her. She felt something wet dripping down her face. It was taking all her concentration to maintain the shield. Nightwing glanced at Raven and frowned. He turned to the rest of the Titans. Starfire was upright but nursing a nasty looking burn on her side.

"Ok, Raven's injured. Starfire's injured. We're gonna have to play this a little different." He pulled out some smoke pellets from his utility belt. "When I give the word, I'm gonna throw these at the bank counter. The smoke should distract them long enough for us to scatter and get to the other side of... whatever the hell that is in the floor." He looked at Beast Boy. "BB, you grab Vic and get him in the air. Vic, you and Star will provide cover fire. Just hammer the shit out of the counter. The bank is insured... I think. If they see you through the smoke, draw the fire away from the hostages." Nightwing turned to Raven. "Raven, you grab some cover. I'll hit Control Freak dead on."

"Dude," Cyborg said, "That remote of his... he can like, summon fictional characters with it out of thin air. He's not dependant on inanimate objects anymore."

Nightwing nodded. "Whatever he's got this time, he's gonna go down just the same. Titans GO!"

Raven dropped the shield and Nightwing threw the smoke pellets. They exploded along the bank counter, filling the area with smoke. Beast Boy morphed into a pterodactyl and lifted Cyborg by the shoulders as the metal man and Starfire began to launch sonic blasts and starbolts at the counter. Nightwing launched himself over the pit.

"Big mistake, dipshits!" Control Freak crowed. He pointed his remote at the floor in front of him. A large laser cannon appeared and Control Freak grabbed the controls. He laughed as the targeting screen locked on to Nightwing. "Say goodnight, Dingle-Wing!"

Nightwing dived to the side as the searing bolt of energy blasted past him. Then he noticed Raven in direct line of fire. "Raven!"

Raven looked up and saw a ball of pulsating white light growing larger in her vision, really really fast. She tried to summon her shield, but she knew it would be too late. Raven closed her eyes.

 _I'm seriously going to be killed by that Comic-Con reject?_ she thought.

After a moment, Raven opened her eyes. She didn't feel dead. She glanced up and saw a tall man in a black overcoat standing in front of her. Between his black gloved hands, a huge pulsating ball of energy floated. The man pushed his hands forward and the energy ball exploded back in Control Freak's direction.

Control Freak's eyes went wide. "Oh shit!"

The laser cannon exploded into particles and Control Freak was thrown backwards, the remote flying from his hands as he crashed into the desks behind him. Almost instantly, the pit and the _Sandalorians_ vanished and the concrete jail surrounding the hostages disappeared.

The man turned to Raven and knelt down. He gently moved her hair from her forehead. Raven found herself staring at the high symmetrical cheekbones and the full and pouty lips that were currently pursed with concern. Long black hair framed his grey face. She was riveted by his stormy silver-grey eyes. She felt her heart race and butterflies began to dance in her stomach. Her face felt hot as she looked up into the man's face. The emotions she felt rolling off the stranger were full of warm concern and affection. Warm greens and browns.

 _What the hell is wrong with me?_.

"Are you ok?" the man asked.

Raven blinked.

"Ah, yeah... yeah. I'm ok."

The man scooped Raven up into a princess carry, causing the dark Titan's face to grow even more red.

"I'm glad I found you, Raven," The man said.

"Who are you?" Raven asked.

"My name is Shade," The man responded.

The hostages filed out of the bank, each thanking the Titans. Nightwing pulled a sullen and bruised Control Freak by his handcuffs as they all exited.

Beast Boy stared at the tall man carrying Raven. He leaned over to Cyborg. "Dude, who the fuck is that guy?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Don't know. But he saved Raven's life."

"So what's with the rescued damsel in his arms thing? Why is Raven letting this dude carry her?" Beast Boy shook his head. "I don't like this guy, Vic. Something about him just smells... off."

The cops led Control Freak to the back of the prison wagon. Control Freak glanced at the man in black with a frown. "Fucking douche-nozzle!" Then he climbed in.

Nightwing helped Starfire walk over to the rest of the Titans. He raised an eyebrow at Raven being in the man's arms.

"Thanks for lending a hand. What do you call yourself?"

"His name is Shade," Raven said quietly. She couldn't take her eyes off the tall man's face.

"I've come to help you, to tell you something that you need to know," Shade said. He looked at Raven. "And I've come for her. Raven, your mother and the priests of Azar have sent me to become your husband."

"I believe a 'what the fuck' is the appropriate thing to say here?" Starfire commented.

* * *

I opened my eyes blearily. I was still laying in the recovery room of the oral surgeon's office. They didn't put me deep under, but had loaded me up with something that made me groggy as fuck. My mouth was also still numb. I glanced at the clock and realized it was 1pm. I had been dozing here for three hours. I should have been on my way back to the Tower already. I got unsteadily to my feet. The iron taste of blood in my mouth from the implant made me feel slightly nauseous and the metal screw cap felt weird under my tongue. One of the nurses came in.

"Oh, you're awake, Mister Goldman!" The nurse had a tag on her left breast that read 'Betty.' "Do you have someone who can take you home?"

I blinked. "Well, yeah, I had two people that were here with me waiting to take me home."

"They left while you were in surgery."

I blinked again. "Come again?"

"They left. Apparently they were called away. They said they'd be back for you, but it's getting later in the day and they still haven't returned. Do you have someone that you could call?"

I pulled out my cell phone and tried Cyborg's number. It went to voicemail. So then I tried Raven's cell. An audio message played informing me that the owner of the phone was either out of service or their phone was turned off.

 _What the fuck?_

I rubbed my eyes and then gave Nurse Betty a weak smile. "I'll just call a cab, I guess. Thanks."

* * *

The cab driver wouldn't shut up about my destination after I got into the cab.

"So you really work for the Teen Titans?" The driver asked again.

I sighed. "Yeah, I work for them."

"That's just so awesome! What's it like working for superheroes?"

"Dude, they put their pants on one leg at a time too, ya know."

The driver grinned. "Well, maybe not Raven and Starfire. Y'know, I always thought Raven was hot, in a sexy gothic kind of way."

I frowned, wishing the driver would just shut the hell up.

Eighty dollars later, (no tip because fuck that guy) I arrived back at the Tower. I was in really low spirits. My mouth was still slightly numb, but most of the feeling had returned. I got off the elevator in the main operations room and found all the Titans clustered around a new person I had seen before... in my dreams. I stared at him for a moment, my breath catching in my throat.

The tall man in a black overcoat turned to stare back at me. His skin was similar to Raven's in its complexion and his eyes were a stormy silver grey and they radiated coldness. They bored through me as if I was an insignificant ant. The man frowned and then he moved. Fast. I was slammed against the elevator doors and my feet left the floor as he lifted me up one-handed by the front of my shirt to stare into my eyes.

"You'd better have a good reason for being in this Tower," The man said softly, "or you'll be leaving from the roof."

My patience was expended and I found my normally half-full bag of fucks-to-give to be completely empty. I forgot about my dream as my anger switch flipped into the 'on' position. I grabbed his wrist.

"I fucking work here, you fucking vampire wannabe! Who the flying fuck are you?"

"Whoa, Shade!" Nightwing and Cyborg ran up. "That's Mark! He's the IT guy here!"

The man called Shade raised an eyebrow at that. The corner of his mouth lifted in slight distaste. "The IT guy? Really?" He let go of me and I fell into a heap on the floor. I quickly picked myself back up and glared at the new arrival.

"Nightwing," I said through gritted teeth, "Just who the fuck is this douchebag?"

"Settle down," Nightwing replied, "He saved Raven when we were dealing with Control Freak at the Jump City bank."

I blinked at that. Then I looked at Shade for a moment. "You saved Raven?"

"It was most fortunate that I happened to be nearby."

"I'm sure," I responded. I looked at Cyborg. "So that's why you guys ditched me at the oral surgeon?"

Cyborg blinked, then facepalmed. "I knew we forgot something. I'm sorry, Mark."

"You were going to tell us something important and clarify what the priests of Azar told you," Raven said, suddenly appearing next to Shade. A blood-stained bandage was apparent on her forehead, next to her chakra bindi.

"Yes, it's very important." Shade put his arm around Raven's shoulders. "But it's not for everybody to hear." He looked at me. "I must ask that this person recuse himself from here. He should not hear about this yet."

I was busy blinking at Shade's arm around my girlfriend's shoulders. Raven avoided my gaze.

"What the fuck?" I stated.

"You will learn about it when the time is right," Shade continued, clearly having no idea what I was on about, "but for now, my words are not for civilian ears."

"Raven," I said, ignoring Shade. I gestured at his arm around her. "What's going on here?"

"I..I really can't talk about it right now, Mark," Raven responded quietly.

Beast Boy, Jinx, and Starfire had also joined us at the elevator. Beast Boy was staring at Shade with narrowed eyes.

Starfire was gazing at Raven. "Sister, are you and Mark no longer... together? Is what friend Shade said to be true?"

Jinx was eating some popcorn. She met my eyes and shrugged. "I just got here too. I have no idea what the fuck is going on."

Shade frowned. "Raven, we can straighten out the aspects of our relationship later. For now, I must share what I know." He turned to me again. "And you must be going."

I felt a peculiar rage fill my stomach. I bared my teeth and glared at Shade. "Listen, you fucking gothic crying-in-the-rain motherfu-"

Nightwing hit the elevator door button and grabbed my arm.

"Mark, just go hang in your office for now. We'll let you know what's going on later. Ok?"

I blinked at the Titans leader for a moment. Then I pulled my arm free and re-entered the elevator. "Fine. Just fine."

"Mark..." Raven began. Her face looked uncharacteristically miserable.

I hit the elevator door button, closing it on whatever Raven wanted to tell me. I felt like my heart was being torn in two. When I got back to my office, I buried my face in my arms and sat like that for a little while. Then I turned to my computer monitor and began to work. Angst or no angst. I had shit to do. After about ten minutes of staring at the screen and getting nothing done, I got up and tactically retreated to my room where I collapsed on my bed with Melvin. My pillow case still smelled like Raven's hair from the night before. Like a smokey rosewood.

"This is stupid," I muttered, "I'm not a teenager any more. We're all fucking adults here. I have to be misunderstanding something." I glanced at Melvin who yawned. "Right Mel-cat?"

* * *

Jimmy and Marge had run their small 'mom & pop' gas station slash convenience store outside of Jump City for close to sixty years. Between the two of them they had borne witness to the some of the worst events in human history, like wars and recessions. They had seen at least five presidents come and go, and they remembered the miracles of the meta-humans when they first started to appear, starting with Superman. Now Jimmy was extremely hard of hearing, so he was no longer able to man the front register of the station. Marge had since had both her hips replaced, so standing for extended periods of time was simply out of the question for her. Instead, they had their granddaughter Shell run the place, while they puttered away back home.

Shell hated her job. At 22, she would have preferred to be living in the city proper instead of at Grammy and Grampy's place. The petite brunette goth spent her time watching the station and composing her dark poems in her black covered notebook, hoping that someday someone sexy and mysterious would come in and woo her with their dark eyes and ask her about her poetry.

Outside, a sleek black car with tinted windows rolled up to the gas pumps. Shell watched out the window as a woman in a black suit and tie and sunglasses climbed out of the car. Shell was certain the sunglasses were some kind of expensive Italian design. The woman's fiery red hair had been cropped short into a sort of pixie style. She opened the door and came in.

Shell stood up and slid her notebook behind the register.

"Can I help you with something?"

The woman took off her glasses. Her face looked Asian and attractive. She had a dark complexion, but her eyes... they were the most stunning brown eyes that Shell had ever seen. They were dark and mysterious and Shell felt herself getting lost in them. The only obvious blemish on the woman's face was a white scar an inch below her eyes that went almost parallel with them, lining up perfectly with her pupils. It went from one side of her face to the other, crossing the bridge of her nose. For a scar though, it seemed to add to the woman's attractiveness. Then the woman smiled brightly and Shell's heart skipped a beat.

"I wonder if you can," the woman said smiling, "I'm a bit lost."

"W-where are you trying to go?" Shell stammered.

"I'm trying to get to a place in Jump City, but I'm woefully unfamiliar with area."

There was a slight accent that Shell had difficulty placing.

"Do you have the address?"

"That's the thing," the woman said with a shrug, "It doesn't seem to have any sort of address listed. It's supposed to be some kind of tower."

Shell blinked for a moment. "There's not many towers in Jump that don't have addresses... unless you're talking about Titan's Tower?"

The woman's smile grew wider. "Yeah, I think that's it! I normally don't get lost. I can find any place. But I even tried to plugging that into my GPS and still couldn't find it."

Shell blinked again. "It's a big T shaped building in the middle of Jump Bay. You can't possibly miss it!"

"Whoa, that easy, huh? Tell me, what's your name?"

Shell was taken aback. Her heart was racing a little. She composed herself and then answered.

"I'm Shell."

The woman stripped off one of her black leather gloves and reached out her hand. "Hi Shell, I'm Lucy. It's nice to meet you."

Shell took the offered hand. It was warm and strong and rough. It sent a thrill down her spine.

"That's a really fascinating name, Shell. Is it short for something?"

"Uh... yeah, it's short for Michelle, but my friends just started calling me Shell... so it stuck."

"Definitely intriguing. How long have you been writing poetry, Shell?" Lucy asked with a warm smile.

Shell blinked rapid fire. "H-how do you know I write poetry?"

Lucy took her hand back. "You're dressed in all black. Your hair is in some ironic pigtails and you're wearing black lipstick. You're also young, unlikely to be the owner here. I'm guessing your grandparents own the place?"

"My grandparents..." Shell said in wonder. "Wait, how did you figure that out?"

Lucy pointed to a picture behind the register. It was an old black and white image of Jimmy and Marge from back when they first opened the station.

"You're like the spitting image of that woman in the picture."

Shell stared at the picture, realizing for the first time she really did look a lot like Gram when Gram was young. After a moment, Shell turned to look at Lucy again. Lucy grinned.

"As for the poetry, you were writing in a notebook with a black cover before I came in. If it was just homework or study, you probably wouldn't have hidden it behind the register. Given your penchant for the goth lifestyle, it's either a journal or a book of poetry."

"Wow..."

"Let me tell you something, Shell," Lucy said. She leaned on the counter. "You don't have to stay in this job if you don't like it. You want to go live in the city. Do it. Youth is fleeting. Get out of here before you become your grandparents. Go back to school if you can and get a degree in something other than liberal arts."

"How did you..."

"It was a lucky guess," Lucy beamed, "Oh, before I forget..." She reached into her inner pocket and took out a sleek phone that looked more like a black wafer of glass than a cell phone. Lucy tapped the screen and then held it up.

It was a picture of a tall dark haired man in a black trench coat. His hair was long and hung about his shoulders, but his eyes were a piercing silver grey and they were penetrating and sad.

"If you see this man show up here or anywhere," Lucy said, "Stay the fuck away from him..." A stylish looking business card that had a phone number emblazoned on one side appeared in her hand and she slid it across the counter. "...and call me."

Lucy put her phone away after a moment. Then she removed a black billfold and took out a black credit card. Shell stared at the card.

"Can you fill me up on pump six?" Lucy asked, "Premium please."

"Uh... sure!" Shell stammered. She ran the credit card and unlocked the pump.

* * *

Lucy finished pumping the gas and hung up the pump nozzle. She gazed down the road towards Jump City.

"Big T shaped tower in the middle of the bay, huh?" She grinned and put on her sunglasses. She liked California weather.

The powerful black BMW 9 roared to life and Lucy pulled it out onto the road.

"I wonder what he's calling himself now?" Lucy mused as the city loomed larger.


	13. Chapter 13

_Once again I feel compelled to apologize for another rough chapter. But I am pleased with how things are going and I have a good idea about what's going to happen with this particular story arc. Another big thanks out to my good friend **Golem XIV** for being a good wall to bounce ideas off of. If you haven't checked out any of his stuff, I highly recommend it!_

 _This chapter may or may not change as I tighten things up overall._

 _ **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything related to the Teen Titans. But the OCs are all mine._

 _-MeatLips_

* * *

"Lycanthropy," Shade said.

The other Titans looked at each other for a moment.

"Lycanthropy," Nightwing repeated slowly.

"Yes," Shade nodded, "A communicable disease that is spread through bite wounds. It has been slowly moving through Oregon and Washington and it's coming to California."

Beast Boy narrowed his eyes and glanced at Raven. The dark Titan sat next to Shade, her face mostly blank and her eyes empty. It didn't sit well with the changeling.

"This is the big warning you needed to tell us," Jinx stated. The pink sorceress had a mildly annoyed expression on her face. She stood up and started limping to the elevator, dumping her empty popcorn bag into the trash on the way. "Let me know when Frankenstein and the mummy show up."

Nightwing frowned. "Jinx, lycanthropy is a real thing. There's actually a guy we babysit once a month to keep under control."

Jinx turned around, scowling.

"Seriously? You're gonna tell me that we babysit a werewolf once a month?"

"I'm just saying that they do exist," Nightwing responded. He looked back at Shade. "How do you know that it's spreading? If it's like this guy Mister Wolf, then it's only gonna show up during full moons."

"I've been tracking it for the last six months."

"You'll have to share your data with me."

Shade nodded. "This I can do."

"So, not to be the turd in the punchbowl here," Beast Boy ventured, "But what about this thing with you and Raven getting married?"

"Yes," Starfire agreed. She gazed intently at the black haired man. "I too would like to know what this all means."

Raven blinked. She started to look up, and then found herself gazing at Shade's face again.

"Seven months ago," Shade began, "I traveled the dimensions to the very gate of Azarath and entered the city. The people there were noble and of regal bearing. They bade me seek the wisdom of the priests of the temple. At the temple, after much meditation with the Lady Azar and her acolyte Arella, they revealed to me a great need. A need for Raven. Thus I agreed and left Azarath to make Raven my wife."

"What did Arella say to you, exactly," Raven asked in a soft voice.

Shade gazed down at the dark sorceress. "She said that the heart has many wounds and the mind has many mysteries and that with you there would be a joining and healing."

Raven blinked again. "That certainly sounds like something my mother would say. But how do you know she meant for you to marry me?"

Shade smiled gently at Raven, causing her heart to speed up again and her face to flush. "I know what my heart tells me, love. To seek you out and complete you."

"Well," Nightwing said, "It was certainly good luck that you showed up when you did. Otherwise Raven could have been seriously hurt or killed."

Beast Boy turned to stare at the Titan leader. Nightwing had a friendly smile on his face.

 _What the fuck?_

"Indeed, you have done the saving of my beloved sister," Starfire agreed, also smiling, "And for that I am grateful."

Cyborg was silent for a moment. Then he spoke too.

"Yeah man, good job."

"Maybe you can stick around and help us out?" Nightwing asked, "We always need new team members."

Beast Boy felt like his head was going to spin off his neck.

"Dudes, what the fuck?" Beast Boy finally exclaimed, "We've known this guy for like a few hours and you're already inviting him to the team?"

"Yeah," Jinx said, "What gives, fearless leader?"

Nightwing shrugged. "You know we're already spread thin. With your leg still healing, Jinx, all you can do right now is cover Vic's training camps. We need more people out in the field."

Beast Boy stood up. "Sorry, man," he said to Shade, "but we just met you. We don't really know anything about your history. No idea what your abilities are. If we're gonna hold a vote, I'm voting no." The changeling turned and joined Jinx at the elevator. Jinx looked back at the rest of the Titans.

"I'm gonna have to vote no too."

Starfire blinked for a moment. "Yes, I believe it to be premature to make such offers right now. I am in the agreement."

Cyborg continued to sit silently. His eye focused on the trench-coated man, contemplating.

Nightwing blinked and shook his head. He glanced back at Shade again. "Yeah, maybe it would be better if we got to know you more first before offering you a position. What do you think?"

Shade nodded. "I think that would be wise."

Raven suddenly stood up, her legs slightly shaky. "I...I need to meditate."

Shade put out a hand to steady her. "Are you ok, love?"

"Stop calling me that," Raven said flatly, looking away, "I've never met you before. I don't know anything about you. So stop speaking to me as if we were in some kind of relationship."

A black portal opened and the dark Titan vanished.

A small snore broke the silence of the main ops center and the remaining Titans all turned to look at Cyborg. The metal man sat with his arms crossed, still facing Shade, but his human eye was closed and his mouth hung slightly open.

"Vic?" Nightwing started, gently shaking Cyborg's shoulder. Cyborg's eye popped open wide. He blinked.

"What?" Cyborg asked.

"You were sleeping," Starfire ventured. Her face showed concern.

Cyborg blinked again, then stood up. "Sorry, for some reason, I just feel really tired. I'm gonna have a charge and a nap." He glanced back at Shade. "Thanks again for saving Rae."

Shade nodded. "She is important to all of us. Go and rest yourself, friend."

Cyborg nodded back, waved at Jinx and Beast Boy near the elevator, and disappeared down the hallway towards his room. The elevator opened and Jinx and Beast Boy disappeared as well, the door sliding closed behind them.

Nightwing turned back to face Shade. "At the very least we can set you up in one of the guest rooms downstairs. No reason why you couldn't stay with us for a little while. Do you have much stuff?"

"Just the saddlebags on my Harley. I try to travel light."

"Perhaps when you have some time, friend Shade," Starfire said hesitantly, "you could perhaps elaborate upon your abilities to us?"

Shade nodded. He took out a small USB key from his coat pocket and handed it to Nightwing.

"That contains a full dossier on my powers as well as my data entries." He paused for a moment. "Rather than setting up a room, would it not be more logical for me to stay with Raven?"

Nightwing blinked and he and Starfire glanced at each other in surprise.

"I... do not think that would be... appropriate," Starfire said, "Unless my sister Raven were to invite you herself."

"Yeah," Nightwing concurred, "Raven is very selective about who she allows into her room. I would recommend you just use the guest room for now."

"Hmm..." Shade responded, "That probably would be the wiser course. She seemed a little distant. I would like to speak with her though. Can you tell me which room is hers?"

"Friend Shade," Starfire began, wringing her hands, "You should surely be aware that sister Raven is involved with someone else right now? Perhaps it would be more prudent for you to be giving her the space?"

Shade frowned. "Who is she involved with?"

Nightwing scratched his head for a moment. "It's umm..." He looked at Starfire. "Why can't I remember?"

Starfire frowned. "It's friend Mark! How would you forget him?"

Nightwing shook his head. "Yeah... how would I forget him?" He glanced back at Shade. "At any rate, Raven is currently seeing our IT guy, Mark."

Shade's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That thick civilian fellow that came in earlier?"

Starfire started to rub her forehead. "Y-yes... I'm sorry, but it seems my over hang from yesterday has come back. I... I need to lay down." The Tamaranean princess abruptly floated towards the hallway and disappeared.

Shade watched Starfire go, his eyes sad. Then he turned to face Nightwing again and bowed deeply.

"Please forgive me for my impertinence, friend. I will follow your recommendation and take lodging in your guest room."

Nightwing blinked, his head feeling a little clearer. "Ah... yeah. Yeah... I'll get that set up for you in a little bit. I just want to go over this data first."

"But if you could just point me to Raven's room... I would still like to talk with her."

"Ah.. sure..."

* * *

The elevator doors closed as Jinx and Beast Boy leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"Ok," Jinx said, "My room is downstairs, so I have a reason to be in here. But you're on this floor. What's up?"

The elevator descended to the seventh floor and the doors opened.

"I'm going to talk to Mark," Beast Boy finally said.

"That's not such a bad idea, actually," Jinx mused, "I guess I'll go check up on the big fella myself."

Beast Boy arched an eyebrow at that. "Ok, why are you calling him that?"

"Calling him what?"

"Big fella, big guy, mister big..." Beast Boy continued, "I get it, he's chubby. That's not a good reason to make fun of him, ya know. It's not like he's a gigantic human being. Dude's barely taller than you are!"

Jinx smothered a laugh as she limped down the hallway to Mark's room. "Oh, BB... you have no idea..."

* * *

Raven assumed the lotus position and levitated from the floor as she began to chant her mantra.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she breathed out, inhaling through her nose.

In her minds eye she she once again floated in the brightly lit center of her inner mental sanctum. Her sanctum looked a little different from what she'd been accustomed to. The round room seemed a little larger, the red and purple sky above the open ceiling seemed to rage with an unspoken turmoil. The portraits of her emotions were still arrayed on the round walls of her psyche and she casually turned the portraits until the one she sought appeared.

"Love," Raven said, "What's going on?"

The portrait of Love came to life and the purple cloaked figure stared down at Raven with a confused look upon her face.

"I'm not really sure..." The emoticlone admitted.

"What are these feelings for this man, Shade?"

"I..I don't know."

"That's not good enough. I need to know what's going on. Tell me, Love. Tell me why I've started feeling like this for this man."

"Something simply isn't right." A voice said from next to Raven. She turned and stared at the yellow cloaked figure of Knowledge standing next to her.

"What are you doing out of your portrait?"

"Raven, why is it a bad thing that we're attracted to this guy?" Love suddenly said from in front of her. The emoticlone had also vacated her portrait. "He's tall, fit, has beautiful eyes and pouty lips that you just want to take a bite out of. The man is gorgeous."

Raven arched her eyebrow at the errant emotion.

"I already resolved to follow my feelings with Mark. I like Mark. He relaxes me and makes me feel good." Raven dropped her legs down and began to pace the round room with her hands clasped behind her back. "He's funny, smart, understanding... Sure, he could stand to lose some weight, and he snores a bit, sometimes farts when he sneezes. I think it's cute when he gets all embarrassed about that and tries to hide it. I like these things about him. He's a flawed human being."

Love's face morphed into a leering grin. "And he's got a big dick and knows how to use it! But why tie ourselves down with a normal human? This guy Shade... the things I wanna do to that mouth! I bet he's no slouch in the dick department either!"

"Shade is very much like Malchior, isn't he?" Knowledge said softly.

"That's what scares me about him," Raven replied. She turned her gaze around the room and noticed a new portrait. "What is that?"

"Um... I put it there," Timid said from behind Knowledge. The gray cloaked emoticlone seemed to cower as if trying to hide behind Knowledge's yellow cloak.

Raven took a closer look at the new portrait. It was an image of Shade, minus his shirt. His sad silver gray eyes were gazing off into the distance while a single black rose was held just under his aquiline nose. Raven turned to glare at Timid who squeaked and covered her face with her hood.

"What is the meaning of this?" Raven seethed. She pointed at the portrait. "Why are you hanging stuff like this here? Why are any of you out of your portraits?"

Lightning flashed across the furious sky above, followed by the crash of thunder.

Raven blinked. The room seemed even bigger. Pathways were appearing from arched openings in the walls. Her carefully controlled emotions appeared to be fragmenting again into Nevermore. She turned around the expanding room again and found her gaze drawn to one particular empty portrait.

"Knowledge," Raven began, feeling uneasy, "Where is Rage?"

"We don't know," The bespectacled emoticlone replied, "That's why something isn't right." She pointed towards the portrait of Shade again. "Rage aside, he seems to be occupying more of your thoughts, Raven."

Raven turned to look at Shade's portrait again. It seemed larger.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on my door. I sat up. I didn't even realize that the smoky rosewood smell of Raven's hair on my pillow had lulled me to sleep. It brought my deepseated pain back to the forefront again as I remembered that goth douchebag touching my girlfriend. I rubbed my face and put my glasses back on as the knock repeated itself.

"Yeah yeah," I muttered, standing up, "I'm coming."

I slid the door open, revealing a serious looking Beast Boy and a smirking Jinx.

"What?" I asked.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "We gotta talk."

I sighed. "Fine. Come in."

The two Titans entered my room and I closed the door behind them. Beast Boy glanced over at the black smudge where my tv had been. I hadn't gotten around to replacing it, and the smudge there was a pain in the ass to clean without repainting.

"What happened to your tv?"

"Don't ask."

I turned and saw Jinx straightening back up from next to my bed. She smirked at me again and showed me her finger. It had red powder on it.

"Barrier spell, huh?" Jinx smiled.

I felt my face growing hot. "Come on, not in front of BB, ok?"

"Not in front of me what?" Beast Boy suddenly said from next to me. I jumped, startled.

"Just checking out this barrier spell that Mark had around his bed," Jinx replied, completely and totally throwing me under the bus.

"Barrier spell?" Beast Boy asked. Then his face lit up. "Oh, so Raven doesn't blow shit up during sex?"

I stared at the green changeling. Then I turned to glare at Jinx and found her looking surprised.

"How the hell would you know what a barrier spell was for?" Jinx asked.

Beast Boy frowned and crossed his arms. "I'm not stupid, yo. I've known Raven for like, years. I know what happens when she gets all emotional. And chicks get all extra emotional when they be getting some 'd.' You tell me that Mark has a barrier spell around his bed and he's dating Raven, I'm gonna guess that it's to keep her from wrecking the Tower."

Jinx continued to stare at Beast Boy. "Have you even seen a real vagina that wasn't just on your computer?"

"Ok, ok," I growled. My embarrassment couldn't get any worse and the two of them were starting to annoy me. "All kidding aside, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Jinx shrugged. "It was mostly BB that wanted to talk to you."

I turned back to the green changeling and found a green cat sniffing noses with Melvin. "Dude! You are so easily distracted! What did you want?"

Beast Boy resumed his usual form and looked embarrassed for a moment. Then he sat down on my small couch.

"I wanted to talk to you about that dude, Shade," he finally said.

"What about him?"

"You're not really gonna let him take Raven away, are you?"

I blinked at that, then I slowly came around and sat on the couch as well. I glanced over at Jinx who had settled herself on my bed with her hands behind her head and her cast up.

"Well, I wasn't intending on ending things..." I began, "but I can't stop it if Raven wants to be with Shade."

"Dude, nut the fuck up," Jinx said from my bed, "this guy Shade is a world-class asshat. I liked it better when you looked like you were gonna hit him in his pouty fucking mouth."

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, "I can't put my finger on it, but something about that guy just rubs me the wrong way. You totally should have hit him."

"Seriously?" I exclaimed, "You do remember that I have like, ZERO fighting skills, right? Also the guy towers over me! If I had really hit him, he'd have torn me in half like a fucking phone book! He's huge!"

"I'm sure you're still bigger where it counts," Jinx said with a grin.

I frowned. "C'mon Jinx, you know what I'm talking about. The dude's obviously a meta. I just can't understand why Raven seemed so...so..."

"So what?"

"So... fucking meek or something! Normally she's fucking ice-woman. Super composed, super calm, super in control... She was looking at him like... like..."

"Like you looking at Raven for the first time?" Jinx finished for me.

"...yeah." I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes. "C'mon, don't make me bare my soul here about my feelings for Raven. But for the record, I was never meek when I first met her."

Jinx climbed off my bed and limped over to the couch where she planted herself between Beast Boy and me. She leaned her face against her hand and looked at me.

"Ok, girl-talk time. Spill it."

"Spill what?"

"Tell us about your feelings for Raven. Think of it as therapy."

Beast Boy settled back on the couch. "Yeah dude. What she said. Let's hear all about it."

I frowned again. "What relevance does this have to anything?"

Jinx shrugged. "Gives me some context. Helps me understand why the first time Raven met you, she didn't scrub her skin down to the bone with a wire brush trying to clean away the creepy vibe you must have been giving out."

Beast Boy snorted with laughter.

I glared at the two of them for a moment. Then I sighed.

"Fine. When I was eighteen, I started following the Teen Titans online and stuff. I wasn't all that popular in school. I was also a bit of an introvert, though I did run track."

Beast Boy held up his hands. "Whoa... it feels like we need a flashback here."

"Anyway," I continued, ignoring him, "There was one pic on the Titans website that showed Raven with her hood down. She had this lost and vulnerable look in her eyes, like she was afraid that everything she had was going to suddenly vanish. I fell in love with her."

Jinx arched an eyebrow.

"So you saw one pic of her and you were instantly smitten. Wasn't she like fourteen?"

"Cut me some slack, alright?" I growled back, "I was only four years older! And it wasn't like I stalked her or sent her locks of my hair!" I paused for a moment. "At the time I just sort of figured that she was in her world and I was in mine. I never expected to actually meet her, or any of the Titans for that matter."

Jinx sighed. "I've only seen Raven from the other side of the fight." She looked over at Beast Boy. "What was the dark witch like back then?"

Beast Boy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "She was really quiet. Didn't talk to anyone. Hated my jokes... actually she still hates them. But she still looked out for us. She did have this weird thing going on with her emotions though."

"'Weird thing?'" Jinx repeated, "Was ist das 'weird thing?' Was she like, all troubled emo goth teen and shit?"

I arched an eyebrow at that. "Like you should talk, miss emo-goth chick."

Jinx frowned back at me. "Hey, I like my look!"

"Sure, pink hair horns, striped tights, black goth mini-dress... nothing at all emo there."

"Guys!" Beast Boy yelled, "I'm trying to tell a story here! Me and Vic found a mirror in her room once that sucked us into her brain!"

Jinx and I both sat up.

"What do you mean it sucked you into her brain?" Jinx asked.

"Her brain, I mean, her mind," Beast Boy said, "It's like she had this vast world in her mind that was populated by her emotions. Like, her feelings looked like her, but in different colored cloaks and shit." He paused for a moment. "Oh yeah, she called it 'Nevermore.'"

"'Nevermore?'" I repeated.

"Heh... like Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven,'" Jinx mused with a grin, "'Quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'"

Both Beast Boy and I stared at Jinx. She frowned. "What? I read too, ya know!"

I sighed again. "Look, what are we hoping to achieve here? What exactly are we talking about anyway and how is this going to help?"

"Dude, Raven is my sister. Plain and simple," Beast Boy said, "I don't like this dude, Shade. I don't like that he suddenly appeared and Raven seems all swept away with him. That's not at all like her." He looked over at me. "You like my bro' now. You feel me? Raven was cooler and more relaxed and happier than I've ever seen her before in all the years I've known her when she started going out with you."

"Wasn't she just not yelling at you as much?" Jinx asked.

"To me, that IS a happy Raven, mama."

"Look," I said, standing up, "I'm still trying to understand what the point of our discussion is. Shade is here and Raven appears to like him... I think."

"That's the thing, dude!" Beast Boy said urgently, "I've never seen Rae act like that before! All dead-eyed and swoony and shit."

"I thought that was her normal look," Jinx smirked.

"All I'm saying is that Raven isn't acting like herself," Beast Boy continued, ignoring the pink Titan's barb, "Nobody is acting like themselves! Nightwing would never just start offering team positions to dudes that quickly!"

"Wait," I interrupted, "He offered Shade a slot on the Titans team?"

"Yeah bro. And I was all like 'fuck dat shit!' and Jinx was like 'yeah, fuck dat shit!' and we like snapped it out and split!"

"He means we voted no," Jinx said, eyeing the green changeling, "though there wasn't any kind of formal vote or anything. I guess we really just offered up our opinions."

"What about Vic?" I asked.

"Vic fell asleep!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "That dude never sleeps during the day. Ever. I don't think I've ever really seen him get tired. But there he was, snoring away!"

"So what does that mean? He was tired?"

"You're not seeing the picture here," Beast Boy responded, "There's something strange going on. People are acting out of character. And it's only been since Shade showed up!"

I scratched my chin. "Look, I get the concern and worry. But I think the first thing I need to do is talk to Raven. If she tells me to my face that she's done with me... well then I guess we're done. We're all adults here." I looked at Jinx and Beast Boy. "And you two seem to be your normal selves. If there was some weird 'effect' going on, wouldn't it also be affecting the three of us?"

Beast Boy scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess that's a good point." He turned to Jinx. "What do you honestly feel about Shade?"

"I don't really like him," Jinx replied, "Then again, he really hasn't done much, aside from assaulting Mark here. I just don't like people that get up in your grill for no reason. Saw too much of that during my Academy days. Also, his whole 'lycanthropy' revelation seemed a bit contrived."

"Look," I said, "The reality here is that I'm really the only person here who has a reason to hate that guy, and that's because of him basically wooing my girlfriend away from me. Oh, and slamming me against the elevator doors kind of helped slant my opinion of him to the negative. But we really don't know anything about him." I paused, feeling hesitant, then decided to go for broke. "But I did have a dream about him last night."

Jinx smirked at me. "Was he wearing clothes or just glistening muscle and pouty lips?"

I gave the pink sorceress a glare. "Funny. No, I dreamt that I was lost in a desert and I saw the Titans in the distance. Shade was there with Raven and they were kissing. But the kicker was that I was being chased by a massive horde of werewolves."

Jinx's face grew serious. "You really dreamt that?"

Beast Boy gave me a funny look. "So you were dreaming about that dude before he showed up? And he was sucking face with Rae?"

"Shut up for a second, BB," Jinx said, looking thoughtful, "Dreams can sometimes have great meaning in our waking lives. Most of the time they're just reflections of our thoughts and fantasies, but when they become prophetic, they are important to pay attention to."

"So you think my dream meant something?" I asked.

"Maybe. There's too much coincidence. A dream about Raven with another man, but you're being chased by werewolves. Normally I would say you were having feelings of inadequacy and you had a deep rooted fear that Raven would leave you for someone you perceived as better or more worthy of her. But you say that the man in your dream was Shade? You're sure it was him?"

I nodded. "I'm absolutely certain. It was like deja-vu when I saw him in the ops center."

Jinx mused for a moment before speaking again.

"Definitely too many coincidences. Even the whole lycanthropy slant. You were chased by werewolves in your dream and now here's Shade talking about tracking occurrences of lycanthropy down the west coast."

"There's that word again," I said, "What's lycanthropy?"

"It's werewolf disease," Beast Boy replied, "it's communicable by bite." He suddenly snapped his fingers. "Wait, that's it! Lycanthropy!"

I blinked. "What?"

"Shade said he was tracking an increase in lycanthropy in Oregon and Washington and extending down into California! That was Shade's big reveal that he didn't want you to know about." Beast Boy glanced at Jinx. "Remember? He was all ' _...it's very important. But it's not for everybody to hear...'_ when Mark came in!"

"That must have been after he throat ratcheted me up against the elevator doors," I agreed, "But I never heard of real werewolves before."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes at me. "Of course they're real, dude. But why would this dude come looking for us just to tell us that shit? You'd think we'd hear about it on our own, right? We watch a single guy every month to make sure he doesn't go bananas and chow down on like all the hotdogs and pizza in town!"

"Some guy loses his shit and goes on a junkfood rampage once a month?" I asked.

"Nah man, this dude Mister Wolf like changes into a full on werewolf and goes nuts. He asked us to sit on him during full moons to keep him from hurting himself or anyone else, but all he ever did when he got out was eat hotdogs and pizza." Beast Boy shrugged. "He's scary and all, but not all that scary."

I blinked incredulously. "His name is 'Mister Wolf?'" I shook my head and opened my door. "Forget it, I don't want to know. Dream or not, I need to talk to Raven." I gestured out to the hallway. "If you would both be so kind as to get the hell out of my room."

Jinx stopped to look at me as she and Beast Boy filed out. "Don't take that dream lightly, Mark. We might want to tell our fearless leader about it. Especially about the werewolves." She turned and limped out to the hallway. "Raven went to meditate. So go bother her at your own risk."

* * *

Raven's eyes snapped open at the sound of someone knocking on her door. She felt unsettled. Unbalanced. She couldn't understand why Shade's image was in her mind. Or why her emotions were scattered once more. She got unsteadily to her feet and moved to her door. She could feel the muted colors of purple and yellow coming from the visitor. Love and concern.

 _Is it Mark?_

"Who is it?" Raven asked.

"It's Shade. I just wanted to check on you and see if you were ok," a voice replied, muffled by the door.

Raven frowned and lifted her hood. She slid the door partway open.

"I'm fine. Now leave me be."

Shade frowned slightly, his expressive silver-gray eyes filled with concern.

"Are you sure, love? Can I at least come in and speak with you for a little while?"

Raven gritted her teeth. Part of her really wanted Shade to come in. To sit with her. Speak with her. Hold her tightly in his strong arms. She mercilessly crushed that last feeling down.

"Shade, I already have a lover. A boyfriend. I don't want you." Raven narrowed her eyes at the tall man. "You saved my life and I'm grateful for that, but that's all I am."

Shade leaned forward against the door frame causing Raven's breath to catch.

"Let me in, Raven. We can talk about it. I can tell you my story. What I've been through to find you. And I want to hear about you. What your life has been like. I want to hear about your hopes and dreams and wants and fears."

Raven felt herself breathing heavily while she gazed into Shade's deep and sad eyes. His eyes spoke of someone who had experienced many hardships in life. Much sorrow. She felt her heart beating faster again.

"You scare me," Raven murmured softly.

"I do?"

"Yes. I can't seem to get you out of my mind."

"Do you... want me?" Shade asked, leaning down slightly closer. He slid her door the rest of the way open. Then he gently lowered Raven's hood and lifted her chin.

"I...I don't know," Raven whispered. She felt lost in Shade's eyes. His hand on her chin felt warm. Strong. His face was close.

"Let's figure it out together, love," Shade whispered back.

"W-we just met. We don't know anything about each other..."

"But all I can feel is love for you, Raven." Shade gently stroked Raven's cheek. "Like I've known you all my life. As if every moment, every danger I faced, every person I've met, everything was just a waypoint on my path to finding you."

"Please..." Raven whispered desperately as Shade's face moved closer.

The overhead light fixtures exploded in a black nimbus of energy as their lips met. Shade's tongue danced in Raven's mouth, sending incomprehensible tingles down her back and into her toes. When they finally parted, Raven felt breathless, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes wide.

"Do you want me to come in, love?" Shade asked her in a husky voice.

Raven closed her mouth and regained control of her breathing. Her emotions were all over the place and her power felt as if it were threatening to explode through her mental barriers like a dam ready to burst. Every fiber in her body and thought in her mind cried out for her to invite Shade into her room. To feel his strong arms around her. Feel his hot breath on her bare skin. To taste his lips over and over again and be claimed by him. She started to open her mouth to say yes, when she felt something shift deep within her spirit. Deep down in the darkest recesses of her psyche. Something red hot. Fiery. Something that tore through the fog of her desire-filled mind. Something that screamed a response to Shade's advances.

"No," Raven replied. She abruptly slid the door closed in Shade's face.

* * *

I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. I leaned against the wall, feeling weak, as I stared at Shade and Raven kissing in Raven's door. Then I turned and fled back to the stairs. Jinx watched me in surprise as I ran past her and Beast Boy, going into my room and sliding the door shut.

I leaned against my closed door and slid down to the floor. Then I felt tears threaten to spill down my cheeks and I cursed myself for being like an angsty teenager.

There was a knock at my door and I heard Jinx's voice.

"Mark? Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I wheezed, trying to regain composure, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Jinx was silent for a moment. "Open the door and let me in."

"Jinx, I'm really ok. I swear-"

"This wasn't a request. Open the fucking door or I will open it for you and probably curse every fucking thing in your room doing it."

I quickly stood up and slid my door open.

Jinx stood there with her arms crossed. She frowned as she examined my face. Then she pushed past me into my room.

"Jinx, r-really," I stammered, "I'm fine. Totally fine."

Jinx turned to face me. Her frown deepened.

"Stop fucking lying to me. It pisses me off. You went upstairs to talk to your girlfriend and then you ran down here like a whipped dog. Fat kids like you don't run like that. What happened?"

I frowned at that. "I'm not a fat ki-"

"Mark!" Jinx cut me off, "Just fucking tell me what happened!"

"I saw Raven and Shade kissing in her doorway," I finally said.

Jinx blinked at that. "Just like your dream, huh?" She shook her head. "When the fuck did the Tower turn into a highschool drama? Next thing you know you'll be throwing the big game because your heart's broken!" She looked at me with a funny expression on her face. "Do I... Do I hug you or something?"

I blinked at that. "Why would you hug me?"

"Like, isn't that how this drama-angst is supposed to work? I give you a hug and you cry your eyes out on my shoulder? Then we figure out some elaborate plan for you to win Raven back and run into some weird-ass hijinx and shenanigans?"

I blinked again. "You're kind of new to this whole 'comfort' thing, aren't you?"

"No, no, of course not... actually yes."

"Dude!" Beast Boy cried from the doorway, "That dickweed was kissing Rae?" Beast Boy suddenly bared an impressive set of fangs. "I'm gonna go find that asshat and fucking ruin his day!"

"BB!" I yelled. The green changeling looked surprised at my exclamation. "Just come in here!"

Beast Boy abashedly walked back into my room.

"Dude," I said, glaring at him, "Don't go tearing up Shade just because he's a fucking asshole! It's bad form!"

"What's wrong with BB roughing him up?" Jinx asked.

I turned back to face the pink sorceress. "Because it didn't look like he was forcing himself on Raven. If she's into this guy, messing him up is just gonna make things worse."

Beast Boy frowned. "I'm telling you that there's weird shit going on, and he seems to be at the center of it! Come on, dude, you even dreamt about this shit!"

"So ripping him up is the way to deal with it?"

"I think it couldn't hurt to ask this guy some questions," Jinx said.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy agreed, "Then we gotta come up with a good plan for you to win Raven back, dude! That guy is bad news! Even you didn't kiss Raven that fast!"

"No... you guys did other things, right?" Jinx smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.

I frowned at the pink sorceress, the chose to ignore the comment.

"Maybe I just have to face the facts," I said calmly, "This guy might be everything Raven ever wanted. Dude's tall, pretty, got those piercing eyes and full lips. He's dark and gothy. He's basically everything I'm not. I'm average height, fat, unskilled, no powers or abilities..." I felt my heart dropping into my shoes and my voice cracked slightly. "I just want Raven to be happy, and if this guy makes her happy, who am I to interfere?"

Jinx and Beast Boy stared at me for a few moments.

"Um... is this when I'm supposed to hug you?" Jinx asked awkwardly.

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow at Jinx. "Why are you supposed to hug Mark?"

"To like, comfort him? Shit man, we just rolled through this already."

I waved my hand at them angrily. "I don't need a fucking hug!"

* * *

Nightwing sat at his desk, staring at the blank pad of paper in front of him. Normally he'd have ten or more pages of notes when researching something, then he'd revise his data and transcribe the info into his computer. But at the moment, his mind was blank. Like there was a light fog over his thoughts. He rubbed his head, then shook it. Something weird was definitely going on.

When Shade first appeared, Nightwing felt an almost instant admiration for the tall man. Shade just seemed so cool. And he rescued Raven from Control Freak's uncontrolled energy blast. Nightwing was just having a hard time finding anything suspicious or questionable about the man and that alone struck Nightwing as strange.

 _I should... run him through the JLU database... find out more about him... right?_

Nightwing rubbed his head again. He had a backlog of work that he'd been trying to get through. He was behind on his analysis of the inhibitor cube that Jinx had brought back from Hive. Still had a number of reports to finish writing. There were a number of open cases that still needed researching. But focus just seemed to completely elude him at the moment.

A brief glance at Shade's data showed that there was definitely an increase in major animal attacks in Oregon and Washington, and they seemed to only happen during full moons. Still needed to cross-reference and verify. Also Nightwing needed to go over the dossier that Shade had provided. A blinking light on the corner of Nightwing's monitor suddenly caught his eye. He reached over to the mouse and clicked the flashing icon.

A video window opened, revealing a strange redhaired woman in a black suit peering into the camera. Her face was mostly Asian, though her skin was dark. She had a white scar across her nose. The woman smiled brightly at the camera.

"Uh... can I help you?" Nightwing asked slowly.

"I certainly hope you can, sir! This is Titans Tower, correct?"

Nightwing frowned. "Look, ma'am, if you're just looking for an autograph or selling something, I'm afraid I can't help you. I'll have to ask you to leave."

The woman waved a black gloved hand at the camera.

"Oh I can assure you that I'm not here looking to meet any hero celebrities," she said, "Nor am I here to preach the good word or sell you anything." She held up her phone to the camera. An image of Shade was on the display. "I am looking for someone, however. And a little birdy told me that he might be here."


	14. Chapter 14

_So this chapter took a little while coming together. I have a lot of ideas about where the overall story is going, and I think it's going to wind down in a few more chapters and then segue into a sequel story that I'm also excited about. Still, big things afoot here, and still a lot more to cover in this current arc._

 _Thanks to everyone who have reviewed me so far. You guys make writing fun and worthwhile and I'm glad to entertain you :-)_

 _Quick notes about this chapter... it's a little rough, but I say that about all my chapters. Still, a lot going on in this, and I hope I don't disappoint. :-D_

 _ **Disclaimer** : Still don't own any of these DC properties. Just the original characters are mine._

 _-MeatLips  
_

* * *

"Sorry," Nightwing said to the woman's image, "But I'm not at liberty to discuss who may or may not be present here. For security reasons."

The woman frowned. "You sure make it difficult, don't you? I should point out that this individual is not a very nice person."

"Lady, I don't know who you are. If you're with a law enforcement agency, produce some identification and we'll talk. Otherwise I'm going to have to ask you to leave, again."

The woman sighed and shrugged. "Very well, be like that." A black business card appeared in her black gloved hand. "My name is Lucy and this is my number. I'll just leave it here in your intercom cover. Please give me a call if you happen to see that individual. You might find it to be in the best interest of you and your team."

The woman called Lucy turned and walked away.

Nightwing shifted to the external security cameras, following the odd woman to her black BMW. Nightwing watched her get in the car and turn back towards the tunnel leading to the city.

 _That was really weird_. Nightwing cocked his head for a moment. There was something strangely familiar about the woman, especially the name, but he was unable to put his finger on it.

* * *

Raven resumed the lotus position in her meditation circle. She began to chant her mantra, but felt herself unable to focus. Her mind felt like it was on fire and her body seemed to be coming down from some kind of 'fight-or-flight' high. The whole encounter with Shade had left her feeling anxious and unbalanced. She had been completely ready to surrender herself to him, but something within her rebelled with a fury. She needed to understand what was going on, but without focus, Raven couldn't return to her inner mental sanctum.

A bang sounded against Raven's door. The emotions the empath felt emanating from beyond the door were overwhelmingly negative. Disapproval. Irritation. Dark browns and reds. She stood up and slid her door open halfway.

Jinx stood in the hallway, leaning on her crutch and scowling.

"You gonna open up or do you have company in there?"

Raven blinked, then narrowed her eyes. "What do you want, Jinx?"

"I want to know what your fucking deal is," Jinx replied.

"I don't know-"

"C'mon, Rae," Jinx seethed, "If you're gonna switch to some pretty douche-bag, the least you could do is break it off with Mark. This isn't fucking highschool, and I'm getting sick of this drama-angsty bullshit."

Raven frowned. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jinx arched an eyebrow. "Oh really? You don't remember sucking face with the goth prince just a little while ago? Mark saw you. He was back in his room downstairs almost crying like a highschool girl ditched at prom."

Raven opened her door wider. With a quick movement, she grabbed Jinx's arm and yanked the pink sorceress into her room. Jinx yelped.

"What the fuck?"

"Shut up," Raven said, shutting her door. She turned to look at the shocked pink Titan. "Jinx, I don't know what's going on with me."

"That makes three of us," Jinx muttered, eyeing the dark Titan. "Mark has no idea what's going on with you either." She rubbed her face. "Fuck, I feel like the best friend go-between. Goddamnit."

Raven felt a tiny pang in her heart at the mention of the system engineer's name again.

"Whenever I look at Shade," Raven began, "I feel like I'm losing control of my emotions. Something is just... not right." Raven slid down her door, bringing up her knees and resting her head on her arms. "I-I don't know what's wrong with me."

Jinx frowned again and carefully lowered herself to the floor as well.

"Ok, spill. Tell me what's going on."

"When I look at Shade," Raven murmured, "I feel hopelessly attracted to him. He excites me, frightens me, makes me question my resolve."

"Raven," Jinx said slowly, "Do you love Mark?"

"I-I don't know how to answer that. Normally when I think of Mark, I feel relaxed, content." Raven looked up into Jinx's eyes. "I usually feel Mark's emotions all the time. Sometimes I feel like I could drown in his feelings and it frightens me, but at the same time, it feels warm, like an enveloping blanket. It's like a beacon in my mind and I always feel like I know where he is in the Tower. It makes me feel reassured. I've never felt like that for anyone before."

"Wow," Jinx said, "You just described exactly how I feel about Wally, but I don't need to be an empath to feel what Wally's feeling."

Raven closed her eyes. "But since I met Shade, he's been a presence in my mind. He's exciting, handsome, fit, powerful, tall... Oh Azar, is he tall," She opened her eyes again. "Jinx, I almost let him in my room. Almost gave myself up to him."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because some small part of me doesn't want him at all."

"Then maybe that's the part you should listen to," Jinx replied. She sighed and dragged herself to her feet again. "Look, Rae, I'm not gonna pretend I have all the answers. I'm a former super-villain, for fucks sake. Maybe Shade is just an itch you need to scratch. Like a roll in the sack with him might solve your problems and make you feel better." Jinx arched her eyebrow again at the dark Titan. "But you'll lose Mark. If you're prepared for that, then do whatever the fuck you want." Jinx pointed at the door. "Now if we're finished with this 'Dear Jinx' session, I'd like to leave now."

"There's something else," Raven said quietly.

Jinx crossed her arms. "Ugh. Ok, what is it?"

"I think I dreamt about Shade last night."

Jinx blinked. "Oookay... You dreamed about Shade before you met him?"

"I didn't think anything about it. Last night, I dreamt I was kissing someone... then I was startled awake by Mark. He had some kind of nightmare that upset him deeply and his strong emotions actually woke me up."

"What a co-inky-dink. Mark told me he dreamt that you were sucking face with someone looking remarkably like Shade last night too."

Raven raised her head and stared at Jinx with wide eyes.

"He told you that? He wouldn't tell me what he had been dreaming about!" Raven put her hand on her head. "Oh Azar, no wonder he was so freaked out!"

Jinx blinked as she noticed an overhead fixture suddenly become enveloped in a dark miasma of energy.

"Ok, first calm down before you blow a hole in the ceiling."

Raven closed her eyes again and took some deep breaths until the energy vanished.

"Everything feels out of control," Raven murmured, "I can't even focus long enough now to properly meditate." She opened her eyes, her face a little calmer. "What did Mark dream, exactly?"

"He said he was being chased across a desert by werewolves and saw you in the distance mouth-to-mouth Shade." Jinx cocked her head. "You didn't think it was weird that you were dreaming about kissing someone?"

"Everyone has dreams like that, Jinx," Raven responded, "I pretty much forgot about it until now." Raven leaned back against the door. "Though the question remains; why didn't he tell me that last night when I went to him?"

Jinx shrugged. "I dunno, maybe he didn't want to tell his girlfriend he was jealous and upset by a dream?" Jinx sat back down again. "Let's analyze this. I've studied a bit about dreams and their meaning. Prophetic dreams aren't usually straightforward, which is why they suck for predictions. They're always open to interpretation. But you guys shared a similar dream..." Jinx paused in thought for a moment. "I wonder if Mark was just seeing your dream from a different perspective?"

"I suppose it's possible..." Raven replied slowly, "But that would mean we share a bond."

"And that's a weird thing to you?"

Raven shrugged weakly. "The only person I have ever had that kind of bond with was Robin... I mean Nightwing."

Jinx raised both her eyebrows. "You dated Robin?"

"No. It's... it's hard to explain. Robin was having these hallucinations that were triggered by some powder that Slade had in his armor. We all thought he was just going crazy. I went into his mind and saw what he was seeing. It created a mental bond between us."

Jinx rubbed her head. "You guys have had the weirdest things happen to you."

Raven arched an eyebrow. "This from a pink-haired goth girl with the power to manipulate causality."

"Look, the thing is you probably have a similar bond with Mark," Jinx said, "Mark's an easy guy to read, so maybe you went into his mind at some point and ended up creating a bond without realizing it."

Jinx's eyes widened in surprise as Raven's face turned a dark crimson. Raven muttered something.

"What was that?" Jinx asked.

Raven turned away and muttered again.

"Big sis can't hear you, Rae."

"Yes! I entered his mind... before... Okay?"

Jinx blinked. "Why is that such a... wait... no way..." She grinned. "You horny bitch! You did it during sex, didn't you?"

Raven turned even redder and hid her face. The overhead light fixture became enveloped in energy again.

"Hahaha!" Jinx crowed, "Miss uptight fucking Raven is actually a horny little minx!" She paused and rubbed her chin in awe. "Did you feel what he was feeling? Share the sensations? Goddamn! The sex must be fucking mind-blowing! I'm actually jealous! I wanna do that with Wally now!"

The pink sorceress jerked back in surprise and stopped laughing when the overhead light exploded.

Raven lifted her crimson colored face and glared at the startled pink Titan. "Can we please move onto something else?"

"Fine, fine... just fucking calm down already!" Jinx shifted her legs so that her cast was at a more comfortable angle. "I really can't wait till I get this fucking thing off," she muttered. She focused on Raven again. "Something else then. So you shared a dream across your mental bond."

"That must be what happened," Raven agreed.

"Rae, it's a simple question here: who do you want more? Mark, who is fat, not very tall, has no athletic skills whatsoever... or Shade, who is extremely fit, well built, tall, probably has washboard abs, etc etc."

Raven was quiet for a moment. "I stopped subscribing to fate the day after the world was supposed to end and I survived. I refused to let abstract concepts like destiny rule my life, especially after Trigon. But what if there's the slightest chance, however minute, that Shade is the one I'm supposed to be with?"

Jinx scratched her ear. "If that were the case, why aren't you in the middle of serious life-changing sex with Shade right now?" Jinx stretched her arms. "Actually, now that I think of it, why the fuck am I even talking to you about this? You're a big girl. Fuck who you want. Hell, get both of them to fucking spit-roast you, for all I care."

Raven blinked. "'Spit-roast?'"

"Yeah, it's when one guy puts his-"

"I know what spit-roast means," Raven interrupted, "It's just you seemed helpful before and now you've regressed into not caring in the slightest." Raven frowned. "You banged on my door reeking of disapproval and irritation. Some people might misconstrue that as you giving a shit. Spit-roast?"

"Come on, Rae," Jinx practically whined as she leaned back on her hands, "Between you and Mark, I feel like I'm acting like a fucking marriage counselor. I'm tired, my leg is sore, and I'm fucking hungry. If you want me to continue this farce of giving a shit, I need food!"

* * *

Lucy got out of her car and stretched. It wasn't a nice part of Jump, that was for certain. Part of her was mildly irritated at the stonewalling she had received at Titans Tower. Well, it was something she was used to, but it was still irksome. She looked around at the row of deceptively abandoned houses that lined the street near the docks. Most of them sported 'Condemned' signs as part of a so-called waterfront rejuvenation project that had been in the works for close to ten years. It certainly wasn't the kind of neighborhood that Lucy preferred, but she was no stranger to the environment it represented. She sighed and took off her suit coat. A job was a job. And thankfully, this was the end of this particular job.

Lucy figured that while she determined her approach to getting a hold of the tall man in black, she might as well deal with some of the extra shit on her plate. Being in Jump City gave her that opportunity. Juggling multiple jobs came naturally to her, so if she could fit other work in while working on a particular case, she would. She adjusted the her earpiece with the attached camera and then gave it a tap.

"Hi, are you there?" Lucy asked.

"Fixer? Yes, we're here."

"I'm just about to go in." Lucy paused for a moment. "You sure you really want to watch this? It's going to be real ugly... possibly the uglier than the other places... just saying."

"After what those men did to our daughter... we've gotten this far. We want to watch this to the end."

Lucy shrugged. "It's your money."

She took off her tie and removed her shirt so she was down to her sports bra. Then she carefully folded her shirt, tie, and suit coat, and then placed them in the back seat. Lucy glanced down to her pants and considered removing them as well, then decided against it. She had a spare pair in the trunk in case these got blood all over them.

The elaborate leafy tattoo covering her left shoulder extended down to her elbow and it stood out on her dark skin as she began to wrap her fists. She decided against using her usual titanium knuckle dusters as the customer had requested maximum pain for the targets. She flexed her hands when she was done. Then she tapped the earpiece again.

"Ok, heading in."

Lucy walked up to the large house in the center of the row. For a condemned property, it had full outdoor lights, security cameras, and a solid looking door at the front. She smiled up at the cameras and then knocked on the door. After a few minutes, the door opened part way and a man's face filled the gap.

"What do you want?" The man asked. His voice was deep and had a distinct Russian accent.

"Hi! I was told that you gentlemen were looking for women?"

The man blinked. Then he eyed Lucy's body from top to bottom, admiring her physique and her attractive face. Then his eyes narrowed.

"What are you, some kind of cop?"

Lucy shook her head. "No way. What kind of cop would show up here with no shirt on?"

The man continued to stare at her for a moment. "Well, I don't know what you've heard, but we aren't looking for women for anything. So fuck off."

He started to close the door when Lucy stuck her boot in the way. He glared at the offending foot, then a pistol appeared in his tattooed hand.

"Lady, you'd better take your foot back, or you're gonna lose it."

Lucy smiled. "There's no need to be hostile." She grabbed the gun barrel and yanked the man's arm out through the door, bending it back against the post with a sickening crack. The man screamed and dropped the gun as Lucy kicked in the door. "Why don't we just go in and talk about it with your colleagues?"

Lucy twisted the man's broken arm behind his back and kicked the gun away. Then she forced him into the entrance hall as more men started yelling in Russian from around the area.

* * *

Someone knocked at my door again. It hadn't been very long since I kicked Jinx and Beast Boy out. I was getting tired of feeling like I was in highschool and wondering if some girl still liked me. At that point, I just wanted to eat some dinner and have a beer... or six or seven.

I opened my door expecting Beast Boy or Jinx. Instead, Shade towered in my doorway. I blinked.

"Uh... what do you want?"

Shade looked down at me. "Come with me. I think we should go out and speak with each other."

I frowned. "I'm not really interested in talking to you. So why don't you fuck...off?"

Shade had reached in and grabbed my head. I quickly felt my consciousness leave me.

When I awoke, I was sitting on the back of a large Harley and apparently clinging to Shade's waist. A helmet had been shoved onto my head and my glasses were askew inside of it.

"What the fuck?" I screamed into the wind as Shade nimbly danced the large motorcycle around traffic.

Shade stopped the bike at a dive bar called The Outpost. It wasn't in the most friendly part of Jump City and a large row of motorcycles sat along the front. I pried my arms from around his waist and dismounted. Then I slowly took the helmet off. I looked at the tall pale man in black.

"Why are we here?"

"I wanted to go out and have a drink with you," Shade replied, "And speak as men."

I blinked. "What the fuck did you do to me in the Tower?"

"I quieted your mind for a brief while."

I blinked again. My mind still felt a bit foggy, but I was still annoyed and a little fearful as to why the tall goth had dragged me out of the Tower. I numbly followed the other man into the bar.

Hanging out at bars wasn't something I considered to be a favorite pastime. Even when I was in college, I rarely hit up the bar or club scene unless my girlfriend wanted to. I was usually quite content to stay in my dorm room. Looking at the interior of the dive joint that Shade had dragged me to, I hadn't at all revised my opinion. This place especially. The clientele that crowded the bar were large and rough looking and the decor didn't look like it had been updated in a very very long time.

We ventured to an open table in the back and I sat down.

"I shall get you a beverage. Do you have any preference?" Shade asked.

I blinked at him for a moment. "Um... yeah. Any kind of IPA is fine."

I watched as the tall goth easily pushed his way through the crowd of biker types until he hit up the bar. I reached for my phone and realized that I didn't actually have it with me. I gritted my teeth and bit back a curse. How was I going to tell the Titans that this crazy goth freak had kidnapped me? And, uh, taken me to a bar?

A few minutes later, Shade reappeared at the table and set down a couple of pints. I took a sip of the beer he got me. At least the beer was good.

"I wish to apologize for the way I treated you at our first meeting," Shade said slowly, "When I also heard about your profession, I'm afraid I regarded you with extra disdain. For that, I also apologize. Every job is important in their own way."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What did they tell you my job was?"

"Nightwing said you were the IT guy." Shade cocked his head. "That is a cleaner of toilets, is it not?"

My mouth fell open. I finally came to a proper conclusion. Shade was kind of a moron.

"No, I don't clean toilets! I deal with information technology! Hence the letters 'IT.'"

Shade blinked at that. "IT? Ah, so that was the meaning of your title!"

"Why would you think an IT guy cleaned toilets?"

"I knew a woman from before who said she worked IT," Shade replied, "She told me once that she cleans up the shit from other people."

I shook my head. "I'm sure she was being just a little facetious. We don't literally clean up shit."

"I see."

I looked at the tall pale man for a moment. I could tell that behind his piercing silver-grey eyes that his brain was processing what I was saying and coming up with zero clues. Or more likely, zero fucks about the proper definition of my job. I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

"Ok, so moving on, you apologized for denting the elevator doors with my body. Why did you do that, anyway?"

Shade took a deep draught of his beer before answering.

"The Tower is supposed to be a gathering of heroes. You seemed distinctly out of place. I immediately distrusted you."

I arched an eyebrow at that. Then I sighed again and took a sip of my own beer.

"Fine, apology accepted." I narrowed my eyes at Shade. "But you obviously didn't drag my ass out of the Tower just for that. What do you want from me?"

"I was told that you and Raven are in a relationship. I'd like to understand the nature of that relationship. I'd also like you to break it off with her."

I frowned. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because I truly love Raven in ways that you could not even begin to fathom," Shade replied, "She and I are destined to be together and she cannot easily move on from you if you are still there. I believe you are strong enough as a man to help her by ending your relationship."

I crossed my arms on top of the sticky table.

"Still not giving me compelling reasons here. You want me to break up with Raven to make it easier for you? Is that what I'm really hearing?"

"She and I belong together," Shade said, "I can make her happy in ways that you cannot. I can give her the attention she needs, and the love she wants." He cocked his head. "What can a normal human like you do for a half-demon? Can you join your mind to hers? Can you understand her pain? Can you give her the understanding that shared experiences bring? She will never truly be human. Her demon half will always lurk there beneath the surface. She will frighten you, perhaps someday even kill you. You don't belong together and your insistence on staying with her just shows the depths of your ignorance and selfishness."

I blinked at that. Then I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes for a moment before putting them back on. Then I looked into Shade's stormy silver-grey eyes.

"You bring up interesting points. Clearly you've considered this for a long time, maybe even a full eight hours or so after you actually met Raven for the first time." I lay my hands on the table, palms down. "In the face of your compelling arguments, I have no choice here but to say this: Fuck. You."

Shade blinked at that in surprise.

"Allow me to add some extra clarity to that statement," I continued calmly, "Go. Fuck. Yourself."

Shade's mouth dropped open as his surprise seemed to grow.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" I went on, "Only you can make Raven happy? That doesn't at all sound presumptuous to you, does it? You fucking goth prick."

I pointed my finger at the tall man in black.

"Let me explain something to you," I said, "and I'll try to make it as simple as possible so even a dipshit who thinks info-tech people clean toilets will understand: I am NOT breaking up with Raven. I don't buy into that dramatic angsty bullshit that I need to break up with someone so they can be happy. Because it's genuine cartooney bullshit. I happen to be in love with Raven and my happiness matters to me as much as her happiness does. So until that day comes where Raven decides she's done with me and calls for a breakup, or in the remote possibility that we both decide to call it quits, I will continue to be her boyfriend. And you can go cry until your guyliner runs."

I stood up, kicking my chair back, and turned to the rest of the dive bar.

"Hey everyone! This tall goth guy just said the next round of drinks is on him!"

I turned back to face a stunned looking Shade as the whole bar cheered loudly.

"Thanks for the beer," I said. I flipped up my middle finger at him and then headed to the exit.

* * *

Lucy focused the camera on the earpiece. Then she crouched down on one knee in front of the bald tattooed man that was laying against the wall. There were prone bodies all around the house. Men that were weeping from the pain of broken bones.

"Dimitri, right?" Lucy asked in Russian, "Do you know who I am?"

The fear in Dimitri's eyes was evident as he stared back at the red-haired woman.

"You are Fixer."

Lucy smiled. "Yes, that's me." She adjusted the camera again. "Today I'm working with a live audience." Lucy switched to English. "I want you to meet the O'Malleys. A mother and a father. You see, they had a daughter named Elizabeth."

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a creased picture of a young blond teenaged girl. It looked like a yearbook picture. Lucy held it up to Dimitri's face.

"This is Elizabeth," Lucy continued, "I'm sure you recognize her. You see, Elizabeth was here in Jump City on a spring break a few months ago. She disappeared. She turned up in an online auction in Taipei where she was sold to a very rich gentleman in Shanghai who had a taste for young blond westerners. Unfortunately, she overdosed and died from the heroin that you got her addicted to while you kept her in this house."

Dimitri's face became pale and his eyes widened.

"I... do not remember this girl," he whispered.

Lucy smiled again as she put the picture away. "Now we're already off to a bad start. Lying to me isn't going to help you."

"Help me?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes. Elizabeth went to a party downtown where her drink was spiked. Then she was picked up by your man, Victor. The only person she sort-of knew at this party, since he invited her."

She lifted her hands and affected a Russian accent.

"Hi, how are you? My name is Victor! I'm a drop dead sexy Baltic man. Oh, you say you're here for spring break? Oh, you're staying by yourself at an AirBnB rental? You don't have a boyfriend? Oh, I know the best party in the city! You simply must come with me!"

Dimitri blinked. Lucy leaned forward.

"See, I found Victor in London last month. He told me all about you." Lucy slowly shook her head. "Unfortunately for Victor, he's no longer a 'drop-dead sexy Baltic man.'"

Lucy watched Dimitri for a moment.

"Here's the thing, Dimitri," Lucy continued, "I normally take these kinds of cases to find someone who is missing. Then I work my way up the chain until I find them. In this case, everything is ass-backwards. I started with the Chinese man who had overdosed Elizabeth. Then I worked my way down the chain until I got to you. I know you sold Elizabeth with a bunch of other girls to a broker from Turkey. He in turn took them to Taiwan and sold them to another broker. That broker held an online auction waaaay deep on the dark web and sold all the girls off to buyers from around the world. Now Elizabeth, she was bought by a man named Bai Zhang. He's very rich, by the way. He told me so before I dropped him out of his window."

Dimitri narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak. Lucy interrupted him with a raised hand.

"I imagine this is the part where you tell me that I don't know who I'm fucking with and that you have friends that will hunt me down." Lucy shook her head again. "I know you're affiliated with the Russian mob. They also know me quite well." She leaned forward again and whispered. "You should know that they wrote off this whole operation instead of getting in my way."

Lucy stood up and stretched. "And now, your fate, Dimitri, rests in the hands of a dead girl's parents."

Dimitri's eyes widened again. "What do you mean? They decide my fate?"

Lucy shrugged. "Well, yes. I'm primarily an arbitrator by trade. But when it comes to jobs like this, I offer choices instead of compromises. Different paths. In this case, I could kill you. Painfully. Or, I could just cripple you in a way that leaves you feeling intense pain for the rest of your life." She gestured to her earpiece. "It's up to them." She tapped the earpiece. "What say you, O'Malleys?"

A few moments went by before Lucy's earpiece answered her.

"Fixer, we've decided."

* * *

Lucy leaned against her car and unwrapped the bloodied wrappings from her hands. She tapped her earpiece again.

"Was that satisfactory?"

There was silence on the line for a moment. Then a man's tear choked voice answered.

"...yes. Thank you. What about the other girls that were there?"

Lucy shrugged as she finished removing the wrappings. "They aren't my problem. You didn't contract me to rescue them. But if it makes you feel better, I will call the police. Those girls will be safe."

"Fixer... my wife and I want to thank you again for this."

"Don't thank me. I just did the job you contracted me for. Just so you know, this isn't going to bring your daughter back, but I'm sure you're well aware of that." She reached up and started to remove the earpiece. "At any rate, if you need anything else, contact me through the usual channels. Just for the record, if you had contacted me sooner, I might have been able to find her first."

"We know that now... we just thought the police and FBI would be able to help."

"Well, I hope there isn't a 'next time,'" Lucy said. She thumbed off the earpiece and dropped it to the ground where she crushed it under her boot. Then she took out her phone and dialled 911.

"911 please state your emergency."

"Yes, there's this place on the dock. I heard gunshots and screaming. Very scary."

"Address?"

Lucy rambled off the address and the operator told her that some squad cars would be dispatched. Then she hung up.

Lucy sighed as she straightened her tie and put on her suit coat. It seemed that cases like missing persons or even human trafficking rings weren't really investigated by the JLU or any of their subsidiaries. Even this particular hub at the docks was operating right under the noses of the Teen Titans, and Jump City was their turf, so to speak. Lucy estimated there were at least thirty or forty women imprisoned in the rooms on the second and third floors of that house. Most of them were probably undocumented illegals, but occasionally these slavers would kidnap the wrong person. Like Elizabeth. Who had rich parents. And knew people.

Lucy hated that she got the call for this particular case only after Elizabeth was dead. Finding people was something she did, and she did it extremely well. Making examples of a bunch of asshole traffickers was something best left to less well known contractors. Not for arbitrators. Arbitrators brokered compromises between aggrieved people. That's what Lucy did primarily. It was how she earned the monicker of 'Fixer.' Because she 'fixed' things. Jobs like this one, it was less of fixing something and more of spackling over a hole in someone's heart. Revenge truly was a dish best served cold, especially for people who could afford it. Lucy was pretty certain that the O'Malleys probably didn't feel any better now that everything was over.

Lucy sighed again as she got behind the wheel of her car. She could hear the distant wails of police sirens. Well, sometimes parts of a case like this were cathartic. Relaxing. She grinned. It also sometimes felt good to feel things breaking beneath her fists. Her phone buzzed and she answered through the car bluetooth.

"Yes?"

"Um... is this... Lucy?"

"Yes it is."

"You came into my place this afternoon? Asking about a tall dude with a black overcoat?"

"I went to a lot of places today. Which one is yours?"

"Uh... this is The Outpost on Sunset Street."

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "Is this Lenny?"

"Yeah."

"So did you see the gentleman I'm looking for?"

"Yeah... he's here right now. With this other dude."

Lucy grinned. "Thanks, Lenny. I will be right there."

She hung up and pulled the car around.

"I knew you'd come out of that Tower eventually, you tall bastard." She glanced at her GPS, her smile widening. "And you aren't far from here."

* * *

 _Ah crap,_ I thought, _After such a cool exit, can I even get a cab in this part of Jump?_

The door opened behind me and I turned to see Shade come out. His face was a cold mask of fury.

"You arrogant little bastard!" Shade growled, stomping towards me, "'Who do I think I am?' Who do you think YOU are? You are just some stinking little human filth who will never understand her! You will never be able to relate to Raven like I can!"

I gritted my teeth. "Oh? And what the fuck is so special about you?"

Shade stood over me. Towered over me, actually. The man must have been at least 6 foot 6 inches tall. But I was angry and I stood my ground. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"She and I both have similar family histories," Shade snapped, "Both half-demon. Both misunderstood. Both different from everyone around us! She's the only one that is the same as me! She will fill the emptiness in my soul!"

I narrowed my eyes as well. "All I hear out of you is what you want! I don't hear one fucking thing about what Raven might want!" I pointed at him. "Family history? Half-demon? Misunderstood? Somebody call you a WAAAambulance!" I threw my hands up. "I can't even believe I'm having an argument with you about this! You've known this woman for barely half a day! Suddenly she's your fucking soulmate?"

"You would not understand!"

"I don't understand what? That you're some fucking goth-faced prince with a tragic past? Your very existence is like a cliche of nightmare proportions!"

Shade sneered at me. "This from a fat little human with delusions of grandeur! Do you think you and Raven may marry? Have children? Have a future together?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I will marry her! Maybe we will have kids someday! Maybe I piss her off and she turns me into toad! Maybe whatever happens between us is none of your fucking business!" I narrowed my eyes at him. "I saw you kissing Raven earlier. The fact that you showed up at my door to ask me to break up with her means you got fucking rejected! Putting the moves on someone else's girlfriend is a gigantic dick move, by the way. Did you think I would just roll over and say 'Sure boss! Lemme tell her it's done and she's all yours,'?"

"Well hello there, boys!"

Shade had just opened his mouth to retort. He and I both turned to stare at a black BMW 9 that had pulled up. The drivers window was down and a dark skinned Asian woman in a suit and tie with red hair and a scar across her nose sat grinning at us. She gestured at us.

"Am I interrupting a lover's quarrel? You didn't seem to be the type to like men, my tall friend."

I didn't think it was possible, but Shade's face turned even paler. I felt the air whoosh from my lungs as he suddenly grabbed me and tossed me on the back of his Harley. The engine roared to life as we peeled rubber fleeing down the street. I screamed and clung to Shade's waist for my life. The sharp headlights of the BMW suddenly enveloped us from behind as Shade accelerated.

"Who the fuck is that?" I screamed, "Why the fuck are we running!?"

"Be silent!" Shade roared over the sound of the motorcycle.

He swerved around slower moving cars, then rocketed up the entrance to the free-way. The bright headlights seemed to have us pinned no matter where we went.

I risked a glance backwards and squinted at the bright lights. The BMW seemed to be almost a mere ten or fifteen feet behind us.

Shade suddenly pulled the big Harley into a power slide. The BMW also spun sideways, still keeping up with us. Shade turned and started racing the Harley back into oncoming traffic. I was screaming like a girl, clinging onto the bigger man as I saw my life flashing before my eyes... again. All I could imagine was the headline in the morning paper talking about two assholes on a Harley dying in a head-on collision with a Mac truck. The sounds of multiple car horns and screeching brakes echoed in my ears as I buried my face against Shade's back.

"HEY KID!"

I numbly turned my face and looked to our right. There, seeming to have no problems driving into oncoming traffic, was that crazy Asian chick in the BMW. She was leaning out the window, looking like she was half paying attention to what was in front of her.

"WOULDN'T YOU RATHER BE IN THIS NICE COMFY CAR-" The lady quickly swerved to the right as we were briefly separated by an oncoming tractor trailer. Then she swerved back. "-WHERE IT'S SAFER TO RIDE THAN THE BACK OF THAT THING WITH A CRAZY PERSON?"

I stared at her blankly, briefly wondering at her definition of a 'crazy person'. Then Shade pulled the bike into the on-ramp traffic. A helicopter flew overhead and shone a spotlight down on us.

" **THIS IS JCPD! YOU ON THE BIKE! PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY!** " A loudspeaker rumbled from the 'copter.

 _I'm gonna die_ , I thought.

Shade pulled the big bike into a tight turn at the bottom of the ramp, squealing the tires sideways as he swung the bike's ass around. Then we accelerated again down the street, following along the free-way.

"Where the fuck are you going?" I yelled.

"Away from her!" Shade yelled back. He dodged the bike around the downtown traffic, causing at least a couple of near accidents. I heard the familiar scream of police sirens. I decided to risk a glance behind us. There were four police cars coming up on us... fast.

Shade yanked the bike to the side, hard, and picked up another entrance ramp to the free-way. Far ahead of us, I could see more police cars. And a news copter.

I think I peed myself... a little bit.

* * *

It had been a couple of hours or so since the strange woman in the black suit had rung the doorbell. Nightwing felt much clearer in his thoughts than he had before. He briefly considered hitting the training room for a good and strenuous workout as he walked to the kitchen area.

The large superscreen in the ops center was on and flipping channels. Nightwing noticed Cyborg sitting on the couch.

"Hey Vic, how are you feeling?" Nightwing asked.

The metal man turned his glowing red eye to point at the team leader.

"Man... I don't remember ever being tired like that before. All my internal log buffers were full of shit for some reason. I needed time to analyze that stuff."

Nightwing approached Cyborg. "You find anything?"

Cyborg shook his head. "I can't quite figure out the packet pattern. It was almost like my internal firewalls were being hammered by something, but there was no actual network traffic. Loaded up my buffers good."

Nightwing nodded. Then he turned to look up at the screen as the local news channel came up.

"Anything noteworthy happening?"

Cyborg opened his mouth to reply when the television interrupted him.

 _"_... _This just in. Jump City Police are currently in pursuit of two joyriders on a motorcycle. So far the riders haven't been identified as of yet. We go live to Chet who is out in the traffic copter following this exciting chase. Chet?"_

A video feed of a motorcycle being chased by four police cars on the freeway appeared. Both Nightwing and Cyborg stared, wide-eyed, as Chet in the traffic copter began to give his update.

"Is that... Mark?" Cyborg asked slowly.

Nightwing stared at the screen for a moment. "I don't know. Whoever it is has their face covered." He frowned. "But that's definitely Shade."

He took out his communicator and flipped it open, tuning it to Mark's GPS signal. After a moment, Nightwing looked back at Cyborg, his face concerned.

"I think we'd better get out there."


	15. Chapter 15

_Many apologies for the time it took to get this chapter up. There was a lot going on in it and I needed to really think it through. I am pleased with how it turned out, though it still feels rough to me and in need of some editing and polish, but overall I'm happy. I think it gives some good insight into Lucy's character. I'm totally going to be writing an original story with her as the main lead. The word count turned this chapter into a beast, however.  
_

 _Anyway, without further delay, I present chapter 15. Have at it and let the criticisms fly! I can take it!_

 _-MeatLips_

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** I don't own any of these DC properties. If I did, I'd be rich. I do own the OCs that appear, but that's it.  
_

* * *

"SHADE!" I yelled, "WE HAVE TO STOP FOR THE COPS!"

"SHUT-UP!" Shade bellowed back at me.

 _I really am going to die_. I thought.

Shade danced the large bike through the slower moving cars as the pursuing police vehicles began to close in. I couldn't see the black BMW anywhere now, making me wonder if that crazy Asian chick had given up. Then a police car careened in front of us and slammed the brakes. Hard. The front of the Harley crashed into the back of the squad car and the ass end of the bike kicked us both off like a bucking bronco. I felt Shade suddenly wrap himself around me and we hit the pavement in front of the car hard, bouncing twice before coming to a stop.

I was cradled to Shade's big chest feeling stunned. Then completely grossed out to be cradled by another man. Considering how hard we hit the street, I was surprised to find myself uninjured. I quickly extricated myself from Shade's embrace and prepared to curse him out solidly, when he climbed to his feet, also completely uninjured. I gawked at him. I could have sworn he took the brunt of our crash landing. Then I noticed the police officers that had surrounded us. They had their guns drawn. They weren't smiling.

Shade leaned over to me as I raised my hands. "I can get us out of here. Just wait for me to-"

"Dude!" I yelled at the tall man, "Just give it a rest!"

"What are you saying?" Shade demanded, "That we should give up?"

I gestured as non-threateningly as I could to the armed policemen currently surrounding us with their weapons drawn.

"I'm saying exactly that! I don't feel like going down in a hail of bullets! I'm not fucking like you!"

Shade blinked at me. Then he slowly raised his hands as well.

* * *

MacMillan stared down his nose at me. His eyes were narrowed and his lips were pursed in disapproval. It felt like a parent glaring down at his kid the way he was glaring down at me.

"You know, I remember you from the other night," MacMillan said, "When you came here with that Cyborg guy to pick up those girls." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Care to tell me why you and that other fellow were recklessly endangering peoples lives on the freeway?"

"Look," I said, irritated, "For the last time, I wasn't the one driving, or riding, or piloting, or whatever the fuck you call the guy controlling a motorcycle. I was an unwilling participant! That dude pretty much kidnapped me from Titans Tower and took me out to a bar! And then there was that weird Asian chick that was chasing us!"

"Ok..." MacMillan said slowly, "So that tall gentleman kidnapped you for a drink?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean..." I rubbed my face. "Do I... do I need a lawyer?"

"I'm sort of obliged to tell you that it would be in your best interest to have a lawyer present, but the only crime here is reckless endangerment and you were just riding bitch." MacMillan shrugged. "Fortunately nobody got hurt and there was no significant property damage. If anything you two are guilty of being assholes. Oh, and failing to stop for the police. Do you want to contact an attorney?"

I sighed. "I think I should." I leaned forward. "But surely you caught that Asian chick, right?"

MacMillan arched an eyebrow at me. Then he looked down at his tablet and scrolled sideways for a bit.

"Nope, sorry. We didn't see any Asian woman in a black BMW that fit the description you gave."

"How could you miss her?" I cried, standing up, "She was dark-skinned, had red hair, and looked like she was wearing a suit and tie! She even had a scar across her nose!"

MacMillan tossed his tablet on the table.

"Number one: Sit the fuck down. Number two: We had plenty of people call in about two assholes on a bike riding into oncoming traffic. But any reports we got about cars following you, they ranged from being a Smart car to a fucking blimp."

I slowly sat back down. "But surely Shade had to have said we were being chased by that chick, right?"

MacMillan shook his head. "Your boy said nobody was chasing you."

I was flabbergasted. "He said what?"

"He said you two were just in a hurry. Kind of a weak excuse to drive so recklessly."

I stared hard at the grain in the table. Then a thought occured to me.

"Say," I began, "How did you guys managed to find us so quickly? There was even a helicopter."

MacMillan just stared at me until I began to feel even more uncomfortable.

"How about I get you that phonecall to your lawyer?" he finally said.

There was a knock at the door. Then Cyborg and Nightwing came in. MacMillan threw his hands up in the air.

"Oh come on! It's so obvious this guy here is not a Teen Titan!" MacMillan growled.

* * *

The ride back to the Tower was quiet. I was alone in the T-Car with Nightwing and Cyborg. Both weren't saying much. After a few minutes, the silence began to get to me.

"Look, if I'm fired, then tell me now," I said irritatedly, "This silent treatment is really getting on my nerves!"

Nightwing glanced back at me. "Why do you always assume you're fired whenever this kind of shit happens?"

"It's a defense mechanism." I made a show of glancing around. "Also, I noticed you only got me out of there. What about your new best friend?"

"Shade was the operator of that motorcycle. We were able to get you out because you work for us, well, contracted from Wayne Tech by the JLU." Nightwing glanced over at Cyborg who was silent. "Also, there's just too many weird variables going on with Shade. We're going to get him released to us tomorrow if we can."

"You know he probably won't stay in that little cell all night, right?" I said.

"If he's got even a shred of personal honor, he'll stay put," Nightwing replied, "And if he doesn't, well, then we know just what kind of man he is."

"What have we got here?" Cyborg suddenly said as we pulled out of the Titans tunnel. Leaning against a familiar black BMW was that dark-skinned Asian chick with the scar. I did a double take.

"Holy shit! It's that crazy chick!"

Nightwing looked back at me again. "You know this woman?"

"She showed up at the bar Shade and I were at and I swear it was like he pissed himself. Also she chased us into head-on traffic, almost got us killed, etc etc. Don't really know her, though."

Nightwing got out of the car after we pulled up to the cavernous garage doors at the base of the Tower.

"This is private property, ma'am," Nightwing said, "I believe I already asked you to leave before."

The Asian chick held up her black gloved hands in a placating manner. "All I ask is that you hear me out. I have information you might find interesting about your tall friend."

Nightwing and Cyborg looked at each other.

"What have we got to lose from listening to her?" Cyborg asked.

Nightwing sighed and allowed the woman to follow us in.

We rode the elevator up to the ops center. I kept stealing glances at the strange woman. She was tall, well, taller than me by a couple of inches at least. She carried herself with an easy grace that was almost disconcerting. Aside from her black business suit, she carried a small satchel in one black gloved hand. I glanced up at her face and noticed her watching me with a grin.

"Like what you see?"

"Uh... nice suit?"

"Oh! Yes, it is nice, isn't it? It's custom tailored. Had it made on Savile Row in London. I actually have several suits like this, all black." The woman sighed. "I do love the feel of a well made suit. It's a bitch finding a good dry-cleaner that can handle bloodstains on it though, so I try to be careful."

"Right..." I murmured as the elevator doors opened. As we walked out into the ops center, I noticed Raven and Jinx in the kitchen area. Raven was just sitting at the counter while Jinx was tucking into a rather large sandwich. Jinx looked over at us as she was taking a bite, and then suddenly spat out what she had in her mouth and started choking when her eyes landed on our guest.

Raven glanced up at me, her face hidden by her hood. Then a black portal suddenly opened and she disappeared. I felt my heart sink at that.

Nightwing had run over to Jinx and was hitting her back. The pink sorceress finally took a deep breath and pointed at the Asian woman.

"What the fuck is she doing here?"

Nightwing raised an eyebrow at that. "Wait, do you know her, Jinx?"

Jinx gritted her teeth and practically glared at the other woman.

"Fucking Fixer! What the fuck do you want?"

"Hi Jinx!" The woman called Fixer said with a wide smile, "It's been a long time! How have you been?"

"Fuck you, you nightmare inducing hag!" Jinx shouted.

Fixer's smile faded. "Well, that was rather rude."

"You wanna see rude?" Jinx seethed. Her eyes began to glow pink. "I'll show you fucking rude!"

"Jinx!" Nightwing yelled, stepping between the two women. He glanced back at Cyborg. "Would you please show 'Fixer' here to a conference room, Cy?"

Cyborg blinked his human eye. "Uh... yeah, sure." He turned to the other woman. "Come on and follow me."

As Fixer and Cyborg left the main ops area, Nightwing grabbed Jinx's elbow and began to escort her in the other direction, pulling the limping sorceress along like a ragdoll.

"So uh..." I said out loud to the empty room. "I'll just stay here then."

* * *

"Ow!" Jinx grumbled. She rubbed her elbow as Nightwing closed the door to the smaller conference room behind them. "The fuck gives?"

"You," Nightwing responded, "How do you know this woman?"

"Fer chrissakes, I was a fucking super-villain, you know!"

"That's not what I mean, Jinx," Nightwing said, "You were ready to take this woman on. What's the deal with her? What did she do to you?"

"Why do you care?" Jinx shot back, "Shouldn't you be making googoo eyes at your new buddy, Shade?"

"Shade's in jail right now."

Jinx blinked. "So that means you figured out he was doing something to you?"

Nightwing cocked his head. "Doing something to me?"

"Come on, chief. You had to have noticed that you and Star were being overly friendly to this tall douchebag that you literally just met!"

Nightwing rubbed his chin. "There was some kind of mental fogginess. I wasn't sure what the source was or what it was doing. You say it was Shade himself influencing us?"

Jinx nodded. "I had a long conversation with Raven about it. Seems Shade has been having a really intense effect on her as well. There's a lot more going on with him than you realize, Nightwing."

Nightwing looked thoughtful.

"If Shade was influencing me and Star, what about you, Beast Boy, and Mark? Were you guys getting foggy?"

Jinx shrugged. "My brain is wired weird, with the whole causality thing. That's the only thing I can think of for me. I don't know why BB and Mark were unaffected."

Nightwing sighed.

"Getting back to this woman. She told me her name was Lucy and she was looking for Shade, though she didn't know his name. I told her to get lost earlier. Seems she came back anyway. Met us here after we picked up Mark from the police station."

Jinx blinked again. "What was Mark doing at the police station?"

Nightwing scratched his head. "It's a bit of a weird story. But it's why Shade's in jail right now. More importantly, I want to know what you know about this woman before I go talk to her."

Jinx sat down at the conference table and put her cast up.

"I only knew her as 'Fixer.' We ran across each other more than once. She taught hand-to-hand at H.I.V.E. Academy for a little while, at Brother Blood's request. She calls herself an arbitrator."

"What does she do, exactly?"

"She acts as a go-between for criminal organizations. Keeps the waters smooth. When someone is threatening war or overstepping their bounds, they call her in and she arbitrates between the parties."

"So she's like a peace broker?"

Jinx shook her head. "Not quite. She brings people to the table, kicking and screaming sometimes. But she also removes the people that won't negotiate. She's usually good at finding the best angles to profit from, so she's more mercenary than anything else." Jinx shivered. "I've seen her do things... she's a scary old hag. And if she's looking for Shade, he's in some seriously bad shit."

Nightwing watched the pink sorceress for a moment longer before speaking.

"Ok, so how should I deal with her?"

Jinx raised her eyebrows. "You're the leader. Why are you asking me?"

"That's how we work together as a team, Jinx," Nightwing said, "We go with our strengths and pool our knowledge. I don't know who Fixer is, nor have I had any time to do any sort of comprehensive background search on her. Right now, you know her best. So how should I approach this?"

Jinx thought for a moment.

"Appease her. Do whatever it takes to get her to piss off." Jinx took her leg down from the table. "Fixer is someone you don't want to deal with if you don't have to." She clasped her hands together on the table top. "She honestly scares the shit out of me. I hit her with a hex bolt one time during combat training. Made her trip and fall. Broke both her legs. She climbed up after me and put me in the Academy infirmary for two weeks with the beating she gave me. The only upside was she was in a wheelchair for six weeks, but I was so traumatized by the beatdown, shit... I don't even wanna talk about it anymore."

"That really traumatized you that badly?"

Jinx nodded. "It wasn't just the beating. It was how she did it. She didn't even seem pissed off. Just cold and methodical. She caused me such intense pain... She didn't stop until I finally passed out. She did all that with two compound fractures in her legs. I-I still have nightmares about it once in a while."

* * *

"Did it hurt?" Fixer asked.

Cyborg blinked and then focused on the red-haired Asian woman.

"Did what hurt?"

Fixer pointed Cyborg's arm. "The implants. I've never met anyone with so much cybernetics. I was just curious if any particular part of the operation hurt more than the rest."

Cyborg frowned. "Lady, that's all kind of personal. I don't know you very well. I doubt we'll be talking about ourselves over a romantic dinner."

Fixer shrugged. "Fine, be that way. I was just making small conversation."

The conference room door opened and Nightwing entered. He nodded to Cyborg before sitting down. Fixer grinned up at the Titans leader.

"I take it Jinx told you all about our sordid and painful history? How I traumatized her? That I'm a scary hag? By the way, that's not entirely a fair description since I've only just had my 29th birthday for the third time."

"Fixer..." Nightwing began.

Fixer held up a black gloved hand. "Oh come on now. I already told you my name is Lucy. Fixer is just my professional name."

"Very well, Lucy then," Nightwing said, "What do you want Shade for?"

Lucy cocked her head. "So he's calling himself Shade now? Well..." She pulled out a tablet from her satchel.

"Let me introduce you to some people, Nightwing, Cyborg." She scrolled the display and showed a picture of a young woman with black hair in braids and dark eyes. The woman wore black lipstick and heavy eyeshadow. "This is Raven Winfield. 24. Lives in Hartford, Connecticut. Big on the Hartford goth scene and is also a tested empath. Six months ago she met a tall man in a black overcoat who called himself Shadow. She's now six months pregnant."

Lucy scrolled again to another goth-looking woman. "This is Raven McKenzie, 17. Lives in Fishkill, New York. Also very goth, also an empath. She met a tall man calling himself Dark. Also pregnant." She swiped again. "This is Raven Goldberg. 26. Tested empath. Met someone calling himself Noir. Also pregnant." Swipe. "Jill 'Raven' McDonald. 19. Another tested empath. Dated a tall guy called Kuro. Not pregnant." Swipe. "Raven Devries. 21. Dated a tall man called Blackened. Was pregnant. Aborted. Oh, and also a tested empath."

Nightwing stared at the tablet. "I think I know where you're going with this."

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "Indeed. The list goes on. Your boy, Shade? He's been a busy guy. I'm actually more impressed with the sheer number of variations he came up with for a name related to the dark. He never used the same name twice." She swiped the tablet one more time. "But this person here is the hot potato. This is why I'm here for your guy." The image on the tablet was of a teenage girl with blonde hair in pigtails. Her eyes were large and unnaturally silver, giving her an almost feral look. "This is Raven Vilkas, sixteen. Her father is Drake Vilkas. If that name doesn't ring a bell, that's a good thing. Drake Vilkas is the alpha for the largest lycanthrope family on the west coast."

Nightwing stared at the image for a moment.

"Are you saying that Shade left her pregnant too?"

"Let's just say that Drake Vilkas is extremely angry and wants to see Shade. Very very badly."

"So let me get this straight," Cyborg said, "Shade basically knocked up a bunch of women named Raven?"

"Not just any women," Lucy said, "But tested empaths. The name 'Raven' is fairly popular in the Goth scene, and these women were especially emo seeing how they could sense emotions."

She scrolled the tablet again.

"To be honest, I had a hard time trying to understand why he was targeting goth empaths named Raven. And why he just started doing this six months ago. But after I got a little more background information on him and his abilities, I was able to surmise what his ultimate goal was."

Nightwing blinked. "Shade gave me a usb stick that supposedly had his power dossier on it, but I didn't have a chance to look at it yet."

Lucy stopped scrolling and held up an image of Shade.

"His real name is unknown, but he's a half demon. Don't know who his parents are, but he has the ability to manipulate energy and exert psychic influence."

Cyborg snapped his metal fingers. "Now that makes sense!"

Lucy arched an eyebrow and looked at the metal man in surprise. "How did you manage to snap your fingers like that?"

"What makes sense, Cy?" Nightwing asked, ignoring the red-haired woman.

"The overloaded packet buffers," Cyborg replied, "Remember a couple of years ago when Phobia attacked the Tower? I installed a psychic firewall! That's why my buffers were getting filled with shit! I was repelling Shade's psychic influence!"

Lucy blinked. "'Psychic firewall?' That's really a thing?"

Cyborg grinned. "How else would you block a psychic attack without mental powers of your own? I'm part machine, so my brain is part computer hardware."

Lucy knocked on the top of her head. "I just have this metal plate in my head. Got installed after I took a shot to the head years ago. Ever since then, I've been weirdly resistant to psychic attacks. Kind of gives a new meaning to the idea of a tinfoil hat, huh?"

"We're digressing here," Nightwing interrupted, "All you've shown me is mercenary clients who want Shade for their own reasons. Shade belongs in jail if he's really guilty of influencing these other, uh, Ravens to have sex with him. What was his ultimate goal?"

"Prior to seven months ago, Shade was a non-person," Lucy said, "As in, he didn't quite exist. Nobody knew him or of him before that time. Then suddenly he appears and he's serial banging emo empaths named Raven." Lucy stared at the two Titans for a moment. "Come on, kids. Put it together."

"He was looking for our Raven?" Cyborg finally said.

"Whammy!" Lucy crowed, "He was looking for a half-demon empath named Raven. Who's also kind of goth."

Nightwing shook his head. "If he just looked online or even turned on a television once in a while, he would have learned about our Raven much sooner. Why hit up all these other women?"

"I only have a working theory on that," Lucy replied, "Gentlemen, I believe Shade was genuinely seeking a mate and somebody told him of an empath named Raven who was also half-demon. I think he was really searching for this Raven and ended up with all these other Ravens. That sounds even weirder when I say it aloud."

Nightwing frowned.

"So he was essentially raping these women," he said, "for that he belongs in prison."

"You would have a hard time proving it," Lucy responded. She held up her tablet. "None of these women would be willing to come forward on this."

Nightwing arched his eyebrow at that. "What are you suggesting then?"

"That you just give him to me. I can guarantee that he'll never bother anyone again."

Nightwing shook his head. "Not happening."

Lucy leaned back. "Well then, I suppose that you'd better settle back and be prepared for when he comes back here and impregnates your resident empath." Lucy smiled. "You should know that he's pretty potent. Apparently he negates even the usual contraceptives." She gestured at her tablet again. "One of these women even had an IUD installed. Still got knocked up." She shrugged. "Must be the demon in him, I guess."

There was a sudden rumble and the room shook briefly.

"The fuck was that?" Cyborg said, looking towards the door. Nightwing glanced at the metal man before opening the door and running off.

"I guess the situation is about to resolve itself," Lucy said with a grin as Cyborg ran after Nightwing.

* * *

MacMillan stared at the empty cell. Then he turned to the officer on duty.

"Where the fuck is this asshole?"

The officer blinked. "You mean Shade? He said he's just stepping out for a little while and that he'll be back."

MacMillan's mouth fell open.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" MacMillan seethed. He pushed past the officer and hit the alarm.

* * *

Raven sat in her meditation circle. Her mind simply would not settle. It had become impossible to enter a meditative trance. Her emotions felt all over the place, but it was the lack of Rage that bothered her the most. She had left Mark alone in the ops center, though she could feel his conflicted emotions faintly when he entered the Tower with Cyborg and Nightwing. There was another person with them, but Raven could not feel anything from her. It disturbed her and made her wonder if her empathic abilities were as messed up as her feelings were.

Everything felt like it would be fine if she could just meditate. But every time she closed her eyes, Shade loomed forth in her mind. The tall goth seemed to occupy all of her thoughts now.

"Raven..."

She could even hear his voice.

"Raven..."

Raven opened her eyes and turned to stare at her window. There, standing on the casement outside of the glass was Shade.

"Let me in, Raven," Shade said. His voice seemed clear in her mind, despite being outside.

"N-no..." Raven whispered, "I-I..."

"Raven, if you don't let me in, I could fall," Shade said, "I had to collect a lot of kinetic energy to jump up here and I've exhausted myself. If I fall, I could die. I just want to look into your eyes and tell you how I feel."

Raven finally raised a shaky hand and willed her magic to open a portal through the glass for Shade to come through. The portal closed behind him as he entered Raven's bedroom and came closer to her.

Raven felt herself growing weak in her knees in the tall goth's presence.

"I-I already told you no, Shade," Raven whispered desperately. Her body was disagreeing with her, however. She felt herself growing flushed and her heartbeat sped up. There was a tingling sensation from her lower half as Shade came closer.

"I've run out of time, Raven, my love," Shade murmured, gazing into her eyes with his sad silver-gray orbs. "My enemies have found me."

Shade grabbed Raven's wrist and pulled her close to his chest.

"Raven," he breathed, "just let yourself go. Become one with me."

Raven stared up into Shade's sad silver-gray eyes and she felt lost. His face loomed closer to hers and she could feel his hot breath on her lips an instant before he claimed them. The kiss was electric and sent powerful tingles all the way to her toes.

Shade scooped Raven up in his arms and approached her bed.

"W-we can't," Raven said weakly, "I-I don't think I can..."

"I love you, Raven," Shade said looking into Raven's eyes, "This is meant to be. We are destined to be one. Nobody could ever love you like I can, and nobody ever will. Our child will be powerful. More powerful than either of our fathers."

Shade lay Raven down on her bed and crouched over her, his lips locking onto hers once more. His hands roamed and began to tear off her leotard. Raven finally gave in and wrapped her arms around the tall man and pulled him to herself. Then she pulled him into her mind.

* * *

I sat down on the couch and put my feet up. Everything about the situation just completely sucked. Across from me, Jinx was sitting with her legs folded under her, cast included. She looked pensive.

"So what's the deal with that Asian chick?" I finally asked, "How come you wanted a piece of her?"

Jinx just shook her head. "She a fucking scary piece of my fucked up past. I never thought I'd run into her again." She cocked her head as she looked at me. "Aside from her, why the fuck were you out with Shade in the first place? I thought we agreed to hate him."

I snorted. "I didn't have much choice in the matter. The dude practically kidnapped me from my room. Put me out somehow. Then took me to a bar and asked me to break up with Raven."

Jinx's eyes widened. "Wow! Did he at least buy you a drink?"

"Well... yeah, he bought me a beer." I grinned back at the pink sorceress. "But then I totally told him off. Basically told him to go fuck himself."

"So how did you two end up in jail?"

I frowned. "Nightwing told you about that, huh?"

"Yup. You should stop getting kidnapped by douchebags. It's kind of annoying."

Beast Boy suddenly ran into the room. He had his nose in the air and his lungs were working like a bellows. He turned and stared at us.

"Yo! Can you guys smell that?"

Jinx and I looked at each other.

"Smell what?" I asked.

"Shade!" Beast Boy hissed. "It's like his smell is turned up to eleven!" He turned to the hallway, his eyes narrowing. "And it's totally coming from Rae's room!"

The Tower suddenly shook.

* * *

Shade found himself standing in a vast empty place. A sign read 'Nevermore' over a crude metal gateway. In the distance, he could see the ruins of a round structure. In the center, his own figure stood, tall and proud. He began to approach the figure. Surrounding the ruins there were many cloaked figures, each in a different colored cloak. As one, they lowered their hoods and Shade saw Raven's face repeated over and over. A Raven in yellow and wearing thick glasses approached.

"We've been waiting for you," The yellow cloaked Raven said. She gestured to the center of the ruins where Shade's statue stood. "She's in there."

"Who are you?" Shade asked, "Aren't you Raven?"

"We are just aspects of Raven's psyche. Her emotions, if you will." She gestured again towards the ruins. "It will all be made clear soon."

Shade entered the ruins and stood before his statue. It was bare-chested and immense. The walls surrounding it looked blasted and destroyed. In front of the statue, a small figure floated in a bubble of white energy. It was a small pale girl that looked like a younger version of Raven. The girl wore a white leotard and had her knees pulled to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her eyes were closed.

This must be Raven's heart. Shade thought. He started to reach out to the child when a voice interrupted him.

"Shade."

It was a voice that reeked of darkness and despair. Deep, yet feminine. But raspy. Shade spun and saw another cloaked figure. A red cloaked figure. A wind seemed to blow and cause the cloak to billow and revealing Raven's bare legs. Her leotard was a deep crimson, darker than the cloak. The figure stepped up to him. Within the darkness of the hood were four glowing red eyes and a mouth filled with fangs grinned.

Taloned hands suddenly grabbed onto Shade's shoulders and pulled him close to the four glowing crimson eyes.

"I've finally come for you, Shade," the red colored Raven said.

The figured suddenly loomed over Shade. He felt tendrils of fear coil within his stomach as he stared at this demonic entity that grew and dug its talons into his shoulders.

"YOU FUCKING WRETCH! YOU DARE? YOU REALLY FUCKING DARE? YOU THINK TO ENSNARE ME? YOU THINK TO STEAL MY HEART?" the demon roared into Shade's face. The breath was scalding hot and fiery and its body continued to grow until Shade found himself dangling from its grip. "YOU ARE FUCKING NOTHING! I DO NOT LOVE YOU, SHADE! I DESPISE YOU! I CAST OFF YOUR INFLUENCE!"

The demon took one clawed hand away long enough to tear the statue of Shade from its pedestal and crush it. Then darkness engulfed Shade and all he could see was the fiery burning of those four eyes. Terror filled Shade's soul.

"YOU THINK TO FORCE YOUR LOVE ON ME? YOU, THE BASTARD SON OF A LOW LEVEL DEMON? YOU REALLY FUCKING THINK THAT THE DAUGHTER OF TRIGON WILL BECOME YOURS?"

Fire exploded from the red eyes and Shade screamed in agony as it burned his body. He struggled to get away but could not open the claws that pinioned his shoulders. It began to swing him back and forth.

"PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES! THEN SUFFER FOR THEM FOREVER!" The flames intensified and Shade felt like his very mind was on fire. "NOW GET OUT OF MY FUCKING MIND!"

Raven threw the screaming goth off of her as she felt Rage consume all her thoughts. Shade bounced off the wall and rolled onto the floor, clutching his head.

"GET OUT OF MY FUCKING ROOM!" Raven screamed. She engulfed Shade in a red miasma of energy and hurled him through her door, smashing it clean out of the frame.

* * *

We were halfway down the hall when Shade exploded through Raven's door. Then an instant later, Raven appeared through the blasted out doorway. Her leotard was hanging off her upper body leaving her breasts bare and she was engulfed in a fiery crimson light. Her eyes had doubled, as in there were now four of them instead of two. And she had Shade wrapped up in a bizarre red energy and was smashing him repeatedly against the steel walls of the Tower. I heard Jinx gasp from next to me as the rest of the Titans ran up and stopped with stunned looks on their faces.

Raven had stopped smashing Shade against the wall and now held him upright. It looked like her power was wrapped around the tall goth's neck and she was slowly choking him to death.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU, SHADE!" Raven roared. Her voice sounded deep and raspy. "MAKE YOU SUFFER AND THEN KILL YOU!"

I came to a decision and ran towards her. I dimly heard Nightwing yell at me to stay back, but I ignored him. Yeah, this might be the last thing I'll ever do in this life, but I had decided that I would love this woman no matter what. Even if she was currently a four-eyed rampaging demon of rage. I got in between her and Shade.

"Raven!" I yelled, "Stop this! You're really gonna kill him!"

Raven snarled and I felt her red magic surround my body. It burned. Oh fuck did it burn. I saw her mouth open and it seemed to contain endless rows of needle-like teeth. For a brief moment, I felt terror consume my heart. Then in an instant, it was gone. I fell to my hands and knees, gasping. Behind me, Shade lay in a smoking pile, unmoving. I looked up and saw Raven. My Raven. Normal once more. Except her face. She looked horrified. A black portal opened and she vanished.

Nightwing came over and helped me to my feet.

"That was really stupid," he growled at me.

I blinked at him. "What was stupid? Keeping Raven from murdering this asshole?"

Nightwing shook his head. "You don't get it. Raven could have easily have killed the both of you. She was being controlled by Rage."

"Yeah yeah, I know. She was really pissed off."

Nightwing spun me around and stared into my face. "No. She was controlled by Rage! Her emotional clone!" He pointed at the shattered doorway that led into Raven's sanctum. "She meditates to maintain control of her emotions because they drive her powers! When she's consumed with Rage like that, she can be beyond dangerous! That's why she works so hard to control her feelings! You really could have died, Mark!"

I blinked again. "Oh," I said stupidly.

Nightwing glanced at the other Titans that were present. "Beast Boy, find Raven and make sure she's ok. I doubt she'll go on a rampage, but we need to make sure the situation is contained."

I noticed Fixer walk over to Shade and kneel down next to him. She poked at Shade's smoking body and grinned. "Looks like you finally bit off more than you could chew, huh fella?" She looked up at Nightwing. "Well, do you mind if I take him now? I doubt your girl Raven wants to see him again."

Nightwing frowned, then he turned to Cyborg. "Cy, can you take Shade to the infirmary?"

Cyborg nodded. He came over and gently lifted Shade from the floor. "Sorry, but it looks like you're gonna have to wait for him to wake up before we decide what to do."

Fixer frowned and rested her chin in her hand. "Well, shit. Can't blame me for trying."

Jinx limped over and put her hand on my shoulder. "Come on. Let's get those burns dealt with."

Down in the infirmary, I hissed as Jinx cleaned my burns.

"Stop being such a pussy," Jinx scolded, "These burns are nothing. Have you seen that asshole?" She jerked her thumb to the cot where Shade lay unconscious. Cyborg had treated Shade's burns and then left him with a saline drip.

"Yeah, well, he kind of deserved it," I muttered.

"And you kind of deserve this shit," Jinx said under her breath as she roughly rubbed a cotton swab over my burn.

"Ow!"

"Shut the fuck up," Jinx growled. She glared into my eyes with her alien pink irises. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't..."

Jinx grabbed my chin, harshly squeezing it as she glared at me.

"She could have killed you."

I tried to shake my head, but Jinx's grip on my chin changed my mind.

"Raven wouldn't have killed me," I said.

Jinx dropped her hand from my chin with a look of anger.

"You dumb son of a bitch. You have no fucking idea. No fucking clue about the world you work in. You think you know everything because you grew up with these super-assholes on the news?" Jinx shook her head. "You don't know a fucking thing. Every one of us metas, and I mean ALL of us, are like loaded guns waiting to go off. Some of us have more control than others, but there's a price we pay daily for that control. Humans like you? You're all soft targets. If one of us loses control, you die. You running like some kind of tropey fucking hero to stop Raven from murdering that asshole was no different from jumping in front of a loaded gun with the trigger half pulled. Except with Raven, that's more like a fucking bazooka."

I blinked in surprise at the level of emotion from Jinx. She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled my face close to hers.

"I've lost too many friends over the years and I'm tired of crying over them." Jinx narrowed her pink eyes at me. "Don't make me fucking cry over you too, asshole."

She let go of my shirt and tossed the metal tray with cotton swabs into my lap. Then she turned and limped out of the infirmary.

I blinked in utter shock at what Jinx had said to me. In retrospect, yeah, it was kind of stupid to jump between Raven and Shade. But at the same time, I felt it was the right thing to do. Then the memory of Raven's demon face made my breath hitch.

"Jinx is kind of right, you know," A voice interrupted my thoughts. I glanced up at the door and saw Fixer leaning against the door post. She sauntered in and sat down in an open chair, crossing her legs.

"Um... do the others know you're in here?" I asked warily.

Fixer made a dismissive gesture.

"Who knows. Don't really care."

She watched me for a moment before I finally spoke again.

"Ok... you clearly want something," I began, "what do you want, Fixer?"

Fixer gave me a wide grin. For some reason, it made me think of the Chesire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Like the woman could fade into nothingness and leave that scary grin behind.

"I could think of a few things that I want... world peace, a private yacht staffed by beautiful men and women, my own country to rule with my face on the local currency." She pointed at the white scar across her nose. "Or maybe I just want this gone. You know how I got this?"

I swallowed and shook my head.

"Broken beer bottle across the face when I was eleven. My guardian at the time was kind of a mean drunk." Fixer grinned again. "Of course, I wasn't too happy about that, so I broke him in half."

I blinked at that.

"Don't get it, huh? My name is Lucy and I'm also a meta. Got way above average strength and reaction speeds. At eleven years old with a heavily bleeding face, I lifted a 220lb man and slammed him back first into a wooden pillar." Lucy's grin grew wider. "I won't tell you what I lifted him up by. However I am a perfect example as to why you shouldn't get between a meta and their prey."

"How so?"

"A step-sibling at the time got in my way. Last I heard, he still taking his meals via IV."

I swallowed again. There was something menacing about this woman. Something dangerous that lurked just below the surface. It was making me really uncomfortable.

"What Jinx doesn't understand is the difference between losing control and just really wanting something, though she experienced it firsthand," Lucy continued, "you see, I didn't really lose control when I went after my step-father. I wanted to hurt him. Really really badly. And not just because he hit me in the face with a beer bottle. I had lots of other reasons. Raven wasn't out of control either, she just really wanted to hurt Shade very very badly. So rather than judge Raven on her actions, you kids should be wondering what drove her to do them." Lucy indicated Shade with her head. "You may find yourself regretting that you stopped her."

I shook my head. "Raven would not have wanted to kill Shade."

"How do you know?"

I hesitated. "I just... know?"

"That's pretty naive thinking." Lucy paused. "Still, even I wouldn't have gotten in her way. That took a special kind of stupid." Lucy tilted her head towards the door. "And it looks to me like Jinx really cares about you, which is hardly surprising."

"Jinx doesn't think of me like that," I began before Lucy interrupted me.

"Don't be obtuse. I'm not talking romantically. I mean she loves you like a friend." Lucy leaned her chair back. "Jinx's type is easy to interpret. She's hard-headed, stubborn, doesn't have many friends but the ones she does she's fiercely protective of. She likes you because you're one of the few people who don't give a shit about her abilities." Lucy paused again, appearing to think, "if I had to guess, I'd say she's already in a relationship with someone whom she loves very much. She just doesn't have that desperately lonely vibe."

I blinked desperately at her.

"Ok, how the fuck do you know all this?"

Lucy gave me a wry smile. "I'm really good at observing people. You can read someone's life story in their body language and actions. More so in their words. Like you for example."

"What about me?"

"Do you really want to know what I've determined about you?" Lucy asked me with a grin.

"Actually, no," I replied. "Back to my original question though. What do you want?"

"I believe I did answer your question."

I shook my head. "I'm not talking about world peace and shit. What do you want in here? Now?"

"Oh, that's easy," Lucy said. She pointed at Shade. "I want him. But since I can't have him yet, I want conversation. I'm bored."

"Um... ok..." I said slowly, "What else did you want to talk about?"

"I'd like to know more about you and Raven."

"Why do you want to know?"

Lucy tilted her head again. "How is it that you two are together? I can't imagine two people more opposite to each other." She jerked her thumb towards the prone Shade. "Even that asshole is more a match to Raven than you are. So what gives?"

I hesitated again, torn between wanting to tell this woman about my relationship and at the same time not wanting to share private information with some creepy Asian chick with a sinister scar.

"It just sort of happened," I finally said.

Lucy snorted. "Oh bullshit. You obviously liked her for a long time. She's an empath, you only worked here for a few months. How did you not creep her out? You aren't the most dashing and ruggedly handsome guy around. You lived in Gotham before moving out here with your cat and managed to land one hell of an eligible bachelorette."

I worked my mouth for a moment before sputtering.

"How the fuck do you know all that?"

Lucy leaned forward and pointed at her eyes. "I told you. I'm observant and very skilled at reading body language and actions. I also read your file in the JLU database."

"How the fuck did you..."

"A good arbitrator never reveals her sources," Lucy interrupted, "But I will say that the JLU is extremely thorough with their background checks, mister action figures."

"Oh come on," I seethed.

Lucy held up her hands in a placating manner.

"Whatever your fetishes are, that's your problem," she said, "but considering that Raven is a half-demon, and after her performance today, why would you still want to be with her? Be honest. She scared the shit out of you, didn't she?"

I didn't answer at first. The memory of Raven's demon face was indeed frightening. I didn't think it had affected me very much, but I felt a slight tingle of dread whenever I thought of it.

* * *

I wandered the Tower for a bit after leaving the infirmary. Lucy had brought up a number of valid points that I hadn't considered. Being with Raven was like the lamb sleeping with the lion. What if someday she lost control again and killed me? I also wondered what Shade had done to anger Raven to the point of near-murder. Yeah, he was annoying, presumptuous, dickish, arrogant, and fuck... I think I would have been happy to see him die.

I reached the bottom floor of the Tower and saw Nightwing standing near a closed door. He had an rectangular ebony box under his arm. He glanced at me as I approached.

"Hey," Nightwing said.

"Hey boss," I replied, "what's going on?"

Nightwing tilted his head to the door.

"Raven is in the basement. I've been contemplating going down there to get her."

I blinked at him for a moment. "So what's stopping you?"

Nightwing turned and looked at me hard in the face.

"Mark, I've known Raven since we started the Teen Titans. She and I have always had a somewhat... special bond." He rubbed his chin. "It was never love, per se. Just a strong friendship and a deep understanding of each other. We've seen each other at our worst, and at our best."

Nightwing glanced back at the door.

"I've never seen her lose it like today. Never. The closest I've seen was when she traumatized Doctor Light."

I blinked. "Traumatized a doctor?"

"Supervillian. Not important right now. What is important is that I don't think it should be me going down there to get her." He put a hand on my shoulder. "As hokey as this sounds, I think it should be you."

I glanced at the door myself.

"You're not saying that because you're afraid, are you?" I asked.

"No." He studied my face for a moment. "Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Afraid."

"Why would I be afraid?" I asked.

"Because this is what it means to date someone like Raven. She's had a scary life. She's powerful. She could crush this Tower with a flick of her power. Seeing her attack Shade showed you the darkness that lives inside her. It's a part of Raven that will never go away. This will always be her. Nobody would fault you if you walked away from this. From her."

I thought about it. Thought about Nightwing's words. And I thought about what Lucy had said. Raven was a half-demon. She was dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Her face was terrifying when she was attacking Shade and yeah, when she focused her fury on me, it had scared me.

As I thought of Raven's face, I remembered other things about her. Her small smiles. Her funny snorts when she laughed. I thought about her passion, and her weird habits, like stacking lots of heavy leatherbound books in unexpected places. I remembered her face when she was absorbed in one of those epic tomes. Her eyes would sometimes widen with childlike wonder, or she would smile at something she read. And I remembered how she would look up at me. When her eyes would tell me all I needed to know. That in her own way, she was quietly pleased to see me.

Yeah, Raven was a half-demon. I always knew that. But she was also just... Raven.

"I'll go get her," I said.

Nightwing nodded and opened the basement door for me.

I fumbled for the light switch to turn on the basement lights. Below the first few stairs, the Tower basement seemed to stretch off into a vast cavern-like emptiness. It was a little disconcerting in the darkness.

"Don't turn on the lights."

I blinked as I stared down into the dark, trying to discern my girlfriend. "Raven?"

"Just leave me alone right now, Mark. I don't want to scare you anymore."

I carefully made my way down the stairs and walked across the floor. I quietly cursed myself for not bringing a flashlight or something. It wasn't quite pitch dark as my eyes grew accustomed, but it was dark enough. I squinted and dimly made out the dark shape of a cloaked figured huddled against the far wall.

"I said go away, Mark," Raven repeated.

"I can't do that."

I reached out to where I thought her face might be. I felt her soft chin under my hand and I gently lifted her face up. I could feel wetness on her cheeks.

"Damn you, Mark," Raven muttered, "Why won't you fucking listen to me?"

"You're the empath," I said, "You tell me why I won't listen to you."

Raven reached up and took my hand off her chin. She held it between her own.

"I'm dangerous," Raven whispered, "I'm dangerous when I'm out of control like that. I could have killed you. I felt your fear when you saw my face. It woke me up."

"I know."

"So why the fuck did you get in the way?" Raven hissed. She pushed my hand away forcefully. "Why did you have to see me like that?"

I sat and watched her for a moment before responding.

"You know that whatever I say, I'm gonna run the risk of sounding like a douchey know-it-all, right?"

"Just tell me why!"

"Ok fine," I said, "I got in the way because I don't think that's who you want to be. A fiery rage demon. And yeah, Shade certainly deserves whatever the fuck you did to him, but I think you would have felt worse if you had killed him."

"You were scared."

I shrugged. "There's no use in lying to an empath. Yeah, you scared the shit out of me. But I'm over it. I did need to change my shorts and I might need to see a therapist, but my insurance covers that. The therapist, not my shorts."

"You have no idea what Shade did," Raven murmured.

"No," I agreed, "I don't. Do you want to tell me?"

Raven was quiet for a moment.

"He's been influencing my feelings... slowly invading my mind. I almost gave in to him."

"Influencing your feelings?" I repeated. "Like using some kind of power or something?"

"Yes. You had to have noticed that the others were falling under his sway."

I scratched my chin. "Well, I think Beast Boy and Jinx noticed that Nightwing and Starfire were acting a little strange. I don't know about Vic."

"What he was doing to me," Raven continued, "was no different from rape. He wanted to possess me. He almost did."

I felt a cold feeling in my stomach. Followed by an intense anger. Raven was right, maybe I should have let her kill Shade. Then I heard Lucy's voice echo in my mind.

 _You may find yourself regretting that you stopped her._

 _Fuck you, Fixer,_ I thought, _I don't regret anything._

I fought my anger down and calmed myself. Then I sat down against the wall next to Raven and then reached out and pulled her onto my lap and into my arms.

"What are you doing?" Raven yelped.

"I'm holding you," I replied, "It's all I can do for you right now."

Raven was silent for a few moments. Then she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face against my neck. I could feel her tears still streaming down and getting my neck wet.

"Are you sure you still want to be with me?" Raven said softly after a few minutes. "Don't I scare you?"

I gently lifted her face up and cupped her cheek.

"You scare the fuck out of me. But it's still you. It's a part of you. And I'm in love with all of you."

"That's got to be the hokiest thing you ever said to me," Raven whispered. She lifted her hand and caressed my face. "However, if you tell anybody that I cried in your arms, I really will kill you."

I hugged her tightly.

"I won't tell anyone."

* * *

Nightwing placed the obsidian colored blade back in its ebony box as Beast Boy entered the ops center.

"What's that?" Beast Boy asked, pointing at the box.

"It's a failsafe."

Beast Boy blinked. "A failsafe for what?"

Nightwing tucked the ebony box under his arm and turned to face the green changeling.

"Batman once told me that the biggest problem working with overly powerful people is not having a proper set of checks and balances. So he established his own."

"Not following you, dude."

"You don't have to," Nightwing replied, "In fact, it's better that you don't."

Nightwing turned and strode from the ops center and headed back to his room to lock up the demon-bane weapon.

Starfire met the Titan leader outside his room after he put it away.

"My mind is feeling much clearer," Starfire said. She cocked her head. "Did I miss much?"

Nightwing shook his head and took Starfire's hand in his own. "I really want you to stay with me tonight."

Starfire blinked. "Not that I would be of the complaining, but what happened with friend Shade and sister Raven?"

Nightwing thought about the decision he had made regarding Shade. Then he decided that Shade was no longer his problem.

"I think things have worked themselves out," Nightwing replied.

* * *

Lucy stopped the car about a hundred and fifty miles northeast of Jump City. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as she turned to look at Shade, who was slowly opening his eyes.

"Good morning, Shade! You now have several paths open before you," she said.

Shade blinked at her then narrowed his eyes.

"You. What do you want?"

Lucy shrugged. "Everybody keeps asking me what I want. But this isn't about me. It's about you."

"What do you mean? Where are the Teen Titans? How did I get here?"

Shade struggled with his seatbelt, but found he couldn't open it. His arms felt like lead. All his stored energy was gone and his body ached. Lucy shook her head.

"Settle down and listen to what I have to say to you. It's in your best interest, after all."

Shade tried to catch the woman's eyes with his own.

"Wouldn't you rather just let me go?" he said softly.

Lucy arched her eyebrow. "You're trying to influence my feelings, huh? That's kind of cute." She rapped the top of her head. "Unfortunately for you, I have a shield of sorts against that sort of psychic influence."

Shade closed his eyes and sighed.

"Fine, what is it you want to say?"

"The Vilkas clan want me to bring you back to them. I'm sure you remember Raven Vilkas. Once Drake Vilkas is through with you, I'm not entirely sure your life would be worth very much. On the other hand, he might just want you to marry his daughter and be a proper father to the child you knocked her up with. However, there is another path."

"What's that?"

Lucy grinned and took out a cell phone and a folder from the glove compartment. She held up the phone.

"You take this phone and dial the only number saved in its phone book. A man will answer and offer you a position within his organization. You would do dark things on his behalf, but you would get really well compensated. So would I."

Shade blinked at her slowly.

"This second path seems much more attractive."

"Indeed it is. It's also very lucrative. You would have no wont for money. And I would get paid a really really fat finder's fee. In fact, I could just sell you directly to the man on the other end of that phone number."

"So why don't you?"

Lucy just continued to smile. "Because I'm an arbitrator. I make deals and offer people choices. Which is why I'm offering you this one. But there is one last path you should consider."

Lucy opened the folder. Inside there were several photos of women that Shade knew quite intimately. "These are the various women that you went out with over the last seven months. You're going to be a father with more than a few of them. They found each other. They also found me and asked me to find you."

Shade blinked at the pictures. "What do they want from me?"

"They want you to take responsibility for what you've done to them." Lucy cocked her head. "Shade, you essentially violated them. You used your psychic influence to worm your way into their hearts and then left them pregnant and alone."

Lucy put the cellphone and the folder on the dashboard. "So your choices are to either go to the Vilkas clan, pick up this cell phone and make that call, or face the justice these women want."

Shade stared at the phone.

"What happens if I choose the phone?"

Lucy shrugged. "I contact Vilkas and those women and return their money. Tell them I never found you. Then collect my fat payment from that man." She looked at him. "The real question you need to answer here is: what is the cost to you?"

Shade frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You have to choose between responsibility or cowardice. A man takes responsibility. A coward runs away. Which one are you? A man or a coward?"

Shade stared at the cellphone for a moment longer before picking up the folder and opening it.

"Tell me what I must do to make amends to these women."

Lucy nodded. "A wise decision. Come closer and I'll tell you."

Shade leaned over and Lucy stuck a hypodermic into his throat. Shade pulled back in surprise, holding his hand over his neck. His vision started to get blurry as Lucy held up the empty needle.

"The thing I've noticed about energy manipulators," Lucy said, "Is that you can easily penetrate their defenses as long as you do it slowly. Of course, you're easier since you currently have no energy. This is concentrated isoflurane. You're gonna have a nap now. We'll talk more when you wake up."

Shade passed out.

* * *

I woke up in a briefly unfamiliar environment. Then I remembered where I had ended up last night. Playing the part of the little spoon in our sleep positions, Raven was curled in front of me and I had my arm over her waist, holding her close. We were both naked, of course. For some reason, the sex we had the previous night had seemed more intense, more needing, deeper, and it had left us both emotionally as well as physically exhausted. I squinted my eyes and glanced over at the temporary door that Cyborg had propped up into Raven's blasted door frame. Well, at least we had privacy.

I gently moved some of her violet colored hair from her face and kissed her cheek and neck. She murmured something sleepily. Then I grabbed my glasses and got up to put my clothes on. I really wanted to just stay in bed with Raven and cuddle up to her, but I actually had some things to do.

I knelt down next to the bed and gently stroked Raven's head before carefully kissing her on the lips.

"Love you, my Lady Legasus," I whispered, "I'll see you a little later."

I stood up and turned to leave, but Raven's voice suddenly stopped me and caused my heart to flutter.

"...I love you too, Mark."

I turned to look back at her, but she had rolled over and pulled the covers over her head.

Back downstairs in my own room, I was greeted by a disapproving Melvin cat who sat impatiently next to his empty food bowl. He looked up and me and yowled as I closed the door.

"Yeah yeah, I hear ya," I muttered. I filled his food dish and then grabbed my phone off my dresser. Naturally, the battery was dead. I plugged it in and powered it up. Then I blinked at it.

Six missed calls? From Mel?

Mel is my older sister, and I rarely hear from her. So if she was calling me, it had to be important. I glanced at the time. 7AM. Which meant it was around 10am on the East Coast. I dialed her number and waited.

"Hello?"

"Mel, it's Mark. You were trying to call me?"

"Where were you?"

I sighed. "It's a long story, but I didn't have my phone with me most of the day yesterday. What is it?"

Mel was quiet for a moment.

"Can you come home?"

I blinked at that. "Why? What's the matter?"

"Mark... It's Mom. You just... you need to come home as soon as possible."

I felt my mouth grow dry as a feeling of dread began to build in my stomach.

"What's wrong with Mom, Mel?"

My sister was one of the strongest people I had ever known. Ten years older than me, and a mom herself now, she seemed like an unwavering tower of inner strength and sometimes like a second mother to me. Mel practically raised me during the first seven years of my life while my mother worked. My mother was simply THE strongest person I had ever known. She held our little family together despite my dad being gone and kept us going with money she earned working three or four different jobs. Both of these women were the pillars of strength that kept me going during my childhood and adolescence. If it weren't for them, I'd never had even gotten the grades to get into Gotham U. So to hear my sister's voice waver with emotion when she spoke next, absolutely shook me to the bone.

"Mom's dying."

* * *

Shade slowly opened his eyes. His body felt strange. Constricted. His shoulders hurt. The environment looked like some kind concrete room, but it was hard to see as his vision was still blurry. Several lights were focused on him.

"I trust you slept well," Shade heard Lucy say, "Hopefully this won't take very long."

His vision finally came into focus. He was bound to a chair in the center of the room. His arms were pulled straight out behind himself and it felt like they had been removed from their sockets. His legs were spread and tied back to the chair and his pants and underwear were gone, leaving him bare from the waist down. Beneath him, there was a plastic tarp. Lucy stood facing him. Her jacket was off and she wore some kind of headset with a camera. She grinned at him and tapped the headset.

"Good morning, ladies," Lucy said out loud. "As you can see, I have the man you've been looking for here. His name of the day is Shade." She focused back on Shade. "Shade, I have on the line all the ladies you dallied with over the last seven months." She paused. "Well, most of them. There were a few who wanted nothing to do with this, and of course Raven Vilkas is not on the line. These ladies have come to refer to themselves as the Raven Club, seeing as they all seem to share that name."

Shade worked his mouth, trying to get some moisture into his swollen tongue.

"I..I don't understand," he finally said, "I thought you said I could make amends to them."

Lucy crossed her arms. "Oh but you will. I told you before, I'm an arbitrator. I create compromises between parties and present choices. You made your choice, so now these Ravens get to choose."

She tapped the headset. "So the decision must be made, Ravens. I present the choices on the table: Death, or permanent lifetime injury. What do you choose?"

Shade stared at Lucy. His heart beat rapidly in his chest as fear began to consume him. Lucy simply nodded.

"A wise decision. Allow me a moment to prepare and then the show will begin."

"What did they choose?" Shade yelled as Lucy walked to a corner of the room and bent down. "WHAT DID THEY FUCKING CHOOSE?"

Lucy came back over into the light. She wore purple colored surgical gloves and a leather apron. She held a black rubber band in one hand and a wicked looking knife in the other.

"Good news! You get to live!" She put the knife down onto a metal cart next to some gauze pads and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and wheeled it closer. "The bad news is you'll probably wish for death."

Lucy put a couple of empty jars on the cart and smiled at Shade.

Shade's screams echoed in the room.

* * *

Lucy dialed the number on the cell phone as she climbed into her car.

"Have you found him?" A cold sounding voice answered.

"He's in a locked concrete bunker house northeast of Jump City," Lucy replied. She lifted up one of the two jars and swished its contents around. "I don't know what his killer instinct is going to be like now. He's missing a few parts."

The voice was quiet for a moment. Then it began to speak again. There was almost a note of surprise in its tone.

"Well now you've got me curious, Fixer. What did you do to him?"

Lucy shrugged. "I had other clients that wanted some trophies. I got one jar going to the Vilkas Clan in Washington and another jar going back east to another group. The rest of him is all yours, provided the money is transferred."

"Tell me where he is."

"Money first," Lucy replied, "you know the account numbers."

"Very well, Fixer. It's done."

Lucy picked up her tablet and popped open a secure banking app. She grinned as the total updated itself.

"I'll leave a beacon tuned to your frequency," Lucy said as she began to transfer the money out of that account and into other accounts at different offshore banks. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Slade. You know how to contact me if you have any other real jobs."

"Indeed. I suspect that I'll require your services again in the future."

Lucy disconnected the cell and crushed the device in her hand. She dropped the shattered remains out of the car window, followed by the crushed remnants of the camera headset. Then she remotely activated the beacon from her tablet and gazed out of the windshield at the morning sun.

"I think I'll take a ride back to Jump," Lucy mused aloud with a grin. "Get some pancakes and see what other things are happening around town."

The black BMWs engine roared to life and she pulled onto a dirt road and headed south towards the highway.


	16. Chapter 16

_Sorry this took so long to get out. Life has an annoying tendency of getting in the way of writing fanfiction. :-P At any rate, I'm pleased to finally get this latest chapter up. Just a few more chapters to go before the end of this tale and then I can begin the sequel story, which I'm very excited about!_

 _Not a lot of action in this chapter, but lots of interaction with people. Still a bit rough though. As usual, I humbly ask for as many reviews as I can get. They make writing such stories worth it, negative or positive._

 _-Meatlips_

 _ **Standard Disclaimer:** I do not own the Teen Titans nor any associated DC properties. The original characters are all mine._

* * *

I slowly knocked on Raven's temporary door. I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me and I was still reeling from my sisters words:

 _Mom's dying._

I was still in disbelief. My mother? First of all, I had no idea she was even sick. Mel wouldn't tell me anything else other than ' _Come home_ ' and it was pissing me off.

A few seconds passed and Raven opened the door wearing her leotard. I figured she must be feeling the turmoil that was engulfing me on the inside since she simply moved out of the way and glanced at me expectantly. She closed the door behind me and then turned to look at me.

"What's going on?" she asked.

I took a deep shuddering breath, willing myself to stay dry-eyed.

"I just spoke to my sister back in Boston," I said, "My mother... s-she's not doing very well."

Raven watched me for a moment longer, then she wrapped her arms around me and I buried my face against her neck.

"Are you going back to Boston?" Raven whispered into my ear. I nodded my head, not trusting myself to speak.

After a few more minutes, she pushed me away and looked up into my face.

"Let's go talk to Nightwing."

* * *

"You don't need to clear any leave time with me," Nightwing said. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and looked at me.

I shrugged and glanced at Raven.

"Well, Raven suggested I talk to you."

Nightwing nodded. "I appreciate the heads up and I will obviously do whatever I can to help you out. But I would imagine you need to let your bosses at Wayne Tech know you're taking some time off."

"I wanted to talk to you about it," Raven said quietly, "because I'm going to go with Mark to Boston."

Both Nightwing and I turned to stare at the dark Titan.

"Raven," Nightwing began, "I understand that you and Mark are in a relationship, but you still have responsibilities to the team. We need you here."

"I'm going to check out Jinx and heal her leg the rest of the way," Raven continued, ignoring Nightwing's words, "She should be able to fill in for me until we get back."

"Raven," I said, "I totally appreciate you wanting to come with me. But you really don't need to. Nightwing's right. You're way too important to the Titans."

Raven turned her cold gaze on both of us. Then she arched an eyebrow.

"This wasn't a suggestion or a request," Raven said evenly, "I'm going with you, Mark."

I blinked, then I looked at the Titan leader. Nightwing's face was unreadable. Then he sighed.

"I know better than to argue with you," he said, "but you will have your communicator with you at all times. Agreed?"

Raven nodded. "Agreed."

I felt my heart swell with love for this woman and she glanced at me, her face slightly red and her mouth curling up a little.

"I'm going to book us a couple of tickets on the red-eye to Boston," I said, still gazing into Raven's amethyst eyes.

Nightwing looked at each of us, then gave a small shrug.

"Just make sure Jinx is in top condition, Raven," he said. Then he looked at me and held out his hand. "I really hope your mother turns out to be ok, Mark. My parents died when I was younger, so I understand what it's like to lose people like that. I hope you don't have that happen to you."

I shook Nightwing's hand and nodded.

"Thanks, chief," I replied, "I will be coming back, so don't redecorate my office just yet."

* * *

"So you're taking off for Boston?" Beast Boy asked.

I nodded as I moved around my room and packed my suitcase.

"Yeah, I need to see my mother."

Beast Boy was quiet for a moment. "But you are coming back, right?"

I looked over at the green changeling and saw genuine concern in his youthful face. I realized just how much of a little brother Beast Boy had become to me. It occurred to me that over the last few months, I had stopped seeing the Teen Titans from a fan's perspective and started seeing them like the good friends they had become. I was also sure that my relationship with Raven had played a big part in that perspective shift.

"Yeah BB," I said, "I'm definitely coming back."

"You'd better be coming back," Cyborg said from my doorway, "Got a mountain-load of shit to do and no time to train another rookie sys engineer to pick up your pieces."

The metal man arched his single eyebrow as he walked in. "Bad enough you're taking Rae with you."

"She wants to come along," I replied, "I'm not stupid enough to argue with her."

Starfire drifted into the room. The orange skinned alien princess settled down to her feet and stood watching me with a solemn expression on her face. I looked over to her and nodded.

"I am coming back, Star," I said, "I promise."

Starfire approached me and enveloped me in a gentle hug.

"Please do the looking after of your mother, friend Mark," she said softly. She pulled back and looked into my eyes. "Parents are a valuable commodity. One we do not realize the value of until they are gone."

* * *

I glanced over at the black haired woman that sat next to me. I was still amazed that it was Raven. Her glamour looked so realistic. But I missed my Raven. The real Raven. The violet hair and creamy pale skin and her alluring amethyst eyes had all been replaced with black hair, blue eyes, and normal complexion and her usual uniform was replaced by some comfortable slacks and a sweater. I could understand why she wanted to maintain the glamour. Aside from getting through airport security as herself, she wanted to keep a certain degree of anonymity.

"What?" Raven asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. It's just... I'm not used to you not looking like you. You know?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at that.

"I do kind of stand out a bit in crowds," she responded after a moment, "I figured this way I'd attract the least amount of attention."

I put my hand over hers.

"You look beautiful either way," I said, "But I have to admit that I prefer your real face."

Raven gave me a small smile.

"Smooth talker."

She gripped my hand tightly.

"Can I ask you a question?" I said after a few minutes.

"What's up?"

I hesitated. "Umm... can you heal my mother?"

I saw Raven's eyes change slightly.

"I can heal physical injury and damage," she said, "But I can't cure disease if that's the issue."

"Ah... I didn't think so."

"I'm sorry, Mark," Raven whispered.

I shook my head. "Don't be. I hope I didn't put you on the spot with that question."

Raven shook her head.

"It was a valid question. I hope there is something I can do for her."

I gripped her hand tightly again and smiled at her. "I know. That's why I love you so much."

After a little while, I felt myself drifting to sleep. My eyes were heavy and the steady drone of the plane was making me sleepy.

"What kind of person is your mother?"

I blinked for a moment. Then I looked at Raven.

"Hmm? What?"

"Your mother," Raven said, "What kind of person is she?"

I thought for a moment.

"She's the strongest person I know. She raised two kids that were ten years apart. She put us both through college. The woman is like a stubborn rock."

Raven looked thoughtful.

"I didn't get to see my mother very much when I lived in Azarath," she said, "She was always secluded in meditation of some kind. I used to think she just simply didn't want to see me."

I frowned at that.

"Why wouldn't your mom want to see you?"

Raven absently rubbed her chin and looked out of the window.

"Because I'm a child of Trigon and I was a living reminder of her mistakes." Raven looked back into my face. "But I learned much later that the priests of Azarath didn't want me to form any strong emotional ties with anyone. At least not until I had full control of my emotions."

I squeezed her hand in mine.

"I'm sure she wanted to see you very much."

Raven arched an eyebrow at me. "It's cute that you'd try to reassure me that my mother loves me, but it's completely unnecessary." She squeezed my hand back. "I made peace with it a long time ago."

The flight landed at Logan Airport at 6am and we stumbled off the plane in a sort of a daze as we headed to the baggage pick-up. My brain felt like there was a fog on it. Raven hid her tiredness much better than I could. We hadn't gotten much sleep on the flight and we were both exhausted. My sister Mel met us in baggage.

Mel was a little shorter than me, but she was strongly built with dark brown hair framing an oval face and piercing green eyes. A testament to her lifestyle of regular workouts and healthy eating. I always thought my sister was good looking and I regarded that as a source of pride whenever I introduced my friends to her when I was younger. I had always looked up to my sister simply because I had grown up with the belief that Mel was a total bad-ass.

However, the woman that met us in baggage looked tired with dark circles under her eyes and a slightly pale complexion. My sister was clearly under some ridiculous stress.

"Good morning," Mel said as we grabbed our suitcases from the carousel. She arched an eyebrow as she examined Raven. "You must be...?"

"Er, hey Mel," I began, "This is, ah..."

"Rachel," Raven inserted smoothly. She held out her hand to my sister. "Rachel Roth. I'm Mark's girlfriend."

Mel raised both her eyebrows for a moment before grasping Raven's hand in her own.

"Hi Rachel, it's nice to meet you. I'm Melissa, but you can call me Mel." Mel looked back at me. "When were you going to tell me you were bringing your girlfriend? Actually, when were you going to tell me that you even HAD a girlfriend?"

I blinked. "Uh... it sort of slipped my mind."

"Is there a problem with me staying?" Raven asked, looking between me and my sister.

Mel shook her head and then looked at Raven again. "No sweetheart, it's cool." Mel smiled at Raven warmly. "I have plenty of space at the house. You are more than welcome to stay."

We followed Mel out to Central Parking and I looked at Raven and mouthed the word "Rachel" to her with a questioning eyebrow. She shook her head and touched her lips with her finger which in Raven-speak meant ' _shut-up, I'll tell you later._ '

I stacked our suitcases in the back of Mel's Explorer and got in the back seat behind Raven.

"So you gonna tell me about this little thing you mentioned about Mom dying?" I asked casually as Mel drove out of Central Parking.

"Mom's got stage 4 breast cancer that's spread to her brain."

I was stunned for a moment. Then I got really annoyed.

"Ok, why the FUCK am I just hearing about this? Stage 4 breast cancer? Goddammit, Mel! What the fuck has Mom been doing about this?"

Mel glanced up at me through the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were hard.

"Are you going to let me explain the situation? Or are you going to sit there and piss me off?" Mel's voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the warning in her tone. I shut my mouth.

"Mom was diagnosed last year," Mel continued, "She had a mastectomy. We all thought it was done and over. Six months ago it showed up in her other breast. They took that breast off too. It didn't end with that. She's been on chemo for the last four months, but the cancer didn't respond. It's now spread. They detected it in her brain last week."

I blinked at that.

"Why didn't I hear about any of this? Mastectomy? I didn't even know Mom had any kind of surgery!"

"Mom didn't want you to know," Mel said simply, "You know how she is. She's a fucking stubborn old bitch and she didn't want her precious son to worry about her. So instead me and Bill got to deal with it."

"Bill?" Raven asked timidly.

Mel glanced at Raven. "Bill is my husband."

"Mel," I said, "I'd have come sooner if I had know this shit was going on."

"Well maybe if you visited once in a fucking while," Mel muttered. She sighed. "It's not important now. The important thing is that now you know what's going on and you're here."

We got off the highway and pulled up to Mel's house in Dorchester. Bill and Mel did pretty well for themselves and the colonial style three story house reflected that.

"Do Sammy and Tina know what's going on?" I asked as I unloaded our suitcases. Sammy and Tina were my nephew and niece. I figured they were probably at school.

"They know that Nana is very sick," Mel replied, coming around the car. She glanced behind me and frowned. "What the everlasting fuck?"

I turned to see what she was looking at. The object of her ire was an older muscular looking bald man in a dark suitcoat and a turtleneck and standing at the bottom of the driveway. He had a mean looking squint and an obviously broken nose that had never set right. A grey colored beard cascaded from his jaw and there was a tattoo of a spider over his left ear.

My sister's gaze had gone hard and she looked angry. Normally Mel's emotions were tight and controlled. She rarely showed them on her face, but looking at this bald stranger, her face was twisted in a scowl.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Mel hissed.

"Is that any way to talk to me after so long?" The man replied. His voice was a bit hoarse and he had an obvious Slavic accent. He turned his cold green eyes on me. "Is that you, Mark?"

I blinked and glanced between the man and my sister. Raven moved up next to me.

"Do you know him, Mark?" Raven asked.

I shook my head, though I was starting to have some suspicions. The man approached me.

"The last time I saw you, you weren't even walking yet," The strange man continued as he stood in front of me. He looked me up and down. "Now look at you. All grown up!" He poked me in the gut almost playfully. "...and grown out!"

"Dad?" I whispered.

Dad threw his bear-like arms around me and squeezed me hard enough to make my ribs creak.

"It's so nice seeing you again, son!" He let go of me and turned his gaze to Raven. "I am Mark and Melissa's father. Roman Kovalchuk, at your service. And you are?"

Raven blinked. She glanced at me before responding.

"Rachel Roth," she said, "I'm here with Mark."

"Ahh!" Roman crowed. He wrapped a meaty arm around my neck and pulled me in for a noogie. "You take after me, my boychick! Always able to bring in the beautiful women!"

"Dad!" I said again, pulling myself out of his grasp. I straightened my glasses before glaring at him. "Dad, where the fuck have you been all these years?"

Mel stepped in front of Roman with her arms crossed, her face still angry. "Actually a better question is why did you come back?"

Roman frowned and then began to speak in Ukrainian to my sister who responded back angrily.

"Do you know what they're saying?" Raven asked me softly. I shook my head.

"I didn't even know my sister spoke Ukrainian!"

Mel stopped mid-sentence and looked at us. "I spent the first ten years of my life with this man. Of course I learned how to speak Ukrainian." She shrugged. "I'm a little rusty though."

"You still sound clear to me," Roman muttered with a frown. He glanced at us. "As I was explaining to your sister, I'm here to see your mother again."

"Mom doesn't want to fucking see you!" Mel growled.

"And how do you know, eh?"

"Because why would she want to see someone who beat the shit out of her and then walked away twenty-two years ago?"

I stared at my father in the silence that followed.

"Is that true?" I whispered.

Roman held up his hand in a placating manner. "Now listen to me, son, things were different back then..."

"Is it true?" I yelled, stepping up to the bigger man and grabbing his lapels.

Roman reached up and wrapped my wrists in his ham-like hands. Then he detached me from his lapels.

"You need to calm yourself, Mark." He forced my hands down and narrowed his eyes at me. "And stop screaming like a woman."

"Or what?" I demanded, "You're gonna beat the shit out of me like you did Mom?"

"I did not beat the shit out of your mother!"

Mel pulled me away. "You need to leave, Roman. Or I'm calling the cops."

Roman's eyes turned sad as he gazed at my sister. "After all these years, you would call the cops on me?" He shook his head. "Fine, I'll leave. But at least tell me what hospital your mother is staying at."

"I don't know how you even found out about Mom," Mel said, "but I'm sure as fuck not going to tell you where she is. Now leave."

"Can I at least meet my grandchildren?" Roman asked.

Mel crossed her arms again. "They're at school. And no, you aren't meeting them, Roman. Leave. Now."

My father looked crestfallen. "So you would deny an old man even a glimpse of his grandchildren?"

"Yes."

Roman shook his head. Then he glanced at me. "We'll talk again sometime soon, son." Then he turned and trudged down the street.

Mel locked her car doors and turned to Raven and me.

"Come inside and we'll talk. I'll tell you about Roman Kovalchuk."

* * *

I sat at my sister's kitchen table and felt exhausted. My sister's kitchen was modern with sleek new appliances and a big island in the center. I had a hard time with appreciating how nice it looked due to my feelings of exhaustion. Between everything that had happened lately with Shade and Raven and my mother being sick, and now my long absent father making an appearance, I just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep.

Raven sat next to me while Mel sort of hung out nearby, leaning against her granite countertop.

"So..." Mel began, "How did you two meet?"

Raven looked up at Mel. "We work together."

"Yeah? Are you an engineer too?"

Raven glanced at me before answering. "Not exactly..."

"Mel," I said, "You were going to tell me about Dad?"

Mel rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just... it's not an easy topic to talk about."

"Did Dad really beat up Mom?"

Mel sighed. "Just after you were born, Dad was struggling with alcohol abuse. He was depressed and verbally abusive. The night after they brought you back from the hospital, Mom and Dad got into a big fight. Dad backhanded Mom and she fell down, splitting a stitch. Then he ran out."

Mel poured herself a cup of coffee. "Dad disappeared. Hadn't heard from him until he showed up today."

I blinked. "So... that's it in a nutshell?"

"Pretty much."

I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes.

"So... when are we seeing Mom?"

Mel sipped her coffee before responding.

"Bill gets home at six. He's going to stay with the kids while we head in to the hospital." She glanced at Raven. "You're welcome to come with us, of course. But you can stay here if you want."

"I'll come," Raven said softly. She looked at my face. "If that's ok."

I looked back at her gratefully. "It's more than ok." I leaned closer to her to whisper in her ear. "I don't think I can do this without you."

I stood up and stretched and yawned. "For now, I think I'm going to have a nap. I'm really tired."

Mel frowned. "What the hell happened to your tooth?"

I blinked for a moment before remembering the metal healing cap where I should have had a bottom tooth.

"I, uh, sort of lost it."

"You lost your bottom tooth?" Mel asked skeptically, "Like behind the couch or between the car seats?"

"Fine, it got knocked out in a fight, ok?"

Mel crossed her arms. "Yeah right. So you walked into a door or something?"

I sighed. "Yeah, a door or something." I glanced down at Raven. "Do you want to come upstairs with me?"

"I'm going to stay down here for a little while," Raven said, "I'll be up in a bit. I'm pretty tired too."

I nodded at her. Then I headed to the hallway and went upstairs to the guest room. I didn't bother taking off my shoes or my coat. I just collapsed on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Mel watched Mark leave, then she turned to Rachel.

"So spill, what happened with his tooth?"

Raven shrugged. "He definitely ran into something that knocked it out."

Mel shook her head. "I'm not going to get the full story out of either of you, am I?"

"Sorry."

Mel shrugged. "Whatever. Can I get you some coffee?"

"Do you have tea?"

"I believe I do," Mel replied, "Is Earl Grey ok?"

"Yes, thank you."

Mel set the kettle on the stove, then she sat down across from the other woman.

"So... how did you and Mark meet?"

"Like Mark said," Raven replied, "we work together."

Mel cocked her head. "I heard that Mark was working at a dark site on the west coast. But you said you aren't an engineer. What do you do?"

"I guess you could say I'm more public relations," Raven said, "What about you? What kind of work do you do?"

"Bill is an insurance actuarial. I'm a realtor." Mel arched an eyebrow. "I get the impression you aren't really open to discussing your job."

Raven shrugged. "Well, it is a dark site we work in."

"I can't get over the feeling that I've seen you before," Mel continued, peering at Raven's face, "Actually, you look a lot like that goth chick that's on the Teen Titans team... Raven."

Raven blinked. "I look like her?"

"She's a hard one to forget," Mel said with a shrug, "Mark was pretty into the Teen Titans when he was in high school. I saw a lot of her pictures in his room."

"He was a big Teen Titans fan?" Raven asked, "...or just of Raven?"

"I think he liked the whole team, but Raven was his fav."

"I see."

"I wouldn't take it personally," Mel said, "I'm sure your resemblance to Raven is purely coincidental to Mark."

"Oh, I'm well aware of Mark's attraction to Raven," Raven replied with a small smile. She stood up and stretched. "I think I'm going to take a rain check on that tea, if that's ok."

Mel shrugged. "Totally cool. You must be tired as well. If you want, I can wake you two up in a few hours for some lunch." Mel looked at Raven's face for a moment longer. "Seriously though, if you dyed your hair purple and slapped in some purple contact lenses, you'd be her spitting image."

"Hmm, I suppose I'll have to ask Mark what he would think of me cosplaying as Raven."

Mel held up her hand. "Whatever kinky shit you and my little brother get up to, I do NOT want to know about it."

* * *

 _Jump City just didn't feel the same when you're a full fledged Titan,_ Jinx decided. She flexed her completely healed leg at the knee and marvelled at how strange it felt to finally have her cast off.

Yesterday, Raven had pulled Jinx into the infirmary and healed her leg completely. Apparently she and Mark were heading to the east coast on a red-eye flight and Jinx would be playing the part of Raven for the foreseeable future. Considering that Jinx could now walk without a limp and that fucking wretched cast was gone, she was more than game to put on that dark cloak and hood and totally emo it up as the Dark Titan. Granted, she wouldn't really be pretending to be Raven, but the idea of masquerading as the great Raven kind of struck Jinx as funny. Would have made for some hilarious selfie shots.

Jinx had left the Tower and ventured across the bay to walk and enjoy her newfound freedom from the cast. She hadn't really been out of the Tower since the whole fiasco with Mark's car, and the training camps she'd been running under Vic for potential Titan recruits had left her feeling like she needed an escape from reality.

Also, it was kind of amusing to wander around all the Titan souvenir stores that were bayside where the tall Titans T extended up from the middle of the bay.

"Well, well, well! Is that Jinx I see?"

Jinx froze in place, then slowly turned around to the source of the voice that had suddenly invaded her thoughts. Behind her stood Lucy, A.K.A. Fixer.

Instead of Lucy's usual uniform of a well tailored and pressed black suit and tie, Lucy stood wearing some beige half-shorts that came down to her knees. On her feet were some sandals and her top consisted of a simple t-shirt with the Teen Titans logo emblazoned upon it. The dark-skinned Asian woman was grinning widely and had a shopping bag clutched in one hand and a pair of sunglasses in the other.

"What the..." Jinx began, staring at the other woman. Her immediate ire was temporarily forgotten at the sight in front of her.

Lucy gestured at her outfit. "I'm taking a vacation here in Jump. I don't have any immediate pressing jobs right now, so I figured it would be a great time to relax and unwind." She put her sunglasses on her head and reached into her shopping bag, pulling out a plush Robin doll to hold up. "Do you think a three year old girl would like this?"

Jinx blinked at Lucy for a moment.

"Ok, seriously, what the fuck?"

Lucy frowned and glanced at the doll in her hand. "It's a simple question. Do you think a three year old girl would like this?"

"Why would a psychopathic bitch like you be shopping for presents for little kids?" Jinx seethed through gritted teeth.

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "That's hardly a nice thing to say."

Jinx's eyes began to glow pink. "You're hardly a nice person. And I owe you an ass-kicking."

Lucy dropped the Robin plushie back in her bag and indicated the small crowd that started to gather to watch the glowing pink Titan. "Just try to calm yourself, Jinx. We are in public, after all. And it just so happens that the three year old kid is MY kid."

Jinx let the pink fire fade from her eyes and she frowned at the other woman.

"You reproduced?" Jinx shook her head. "Jesus fucking wept."

Lucy sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Look, I get it. You're sore and pissed off. Let me buy you lunch and we can talk a bit about it. I suppose I owe you an apology and an explanation."

Jinx stared at the dark-skinned Asian woman for a moment longer. "Holy shit. Did you just say owed me an apology?"

"Well yeah. Why is that so surprising?"

"Because you never seemed the type to apologize for anything."

Lucy shrugged. "Normally I don't. However, super-powered enemies are not something I want to have. So I try to avoid that when I can."

Jinx crossed her arms and regarded the other woman for a few moments.

"Ok, I'll bite. Let's do lunch. You can pay for it." Jinx paused for a moment. "Actually, there's a place in town that I've been dying to go to."

* * *

Lucy put down her menu and watched Jinx's face. The scrutiny made the pink Titan feel self conscious and irritated.

"Ok kid, I'll bite here," Lucy said, "Why this place?"

Jinx narrowed her eyes at the other woman before picking up her menu.

"I used to work here washing dishes." Jinx raised an eyebrow. "I figured I'd kill two karmic birds with one stone. Having lunch at a place that would never have served me before, and having YOU pay for it."

Lucy smirked. "I can respect that. I've take great delight at dining at places that have refused me service before."

Jinx watched the other woman for a moment. There was still something unnerving about Lucy's dark face with that white scar and those piercing brown eyes that were extremely hard to read.

"So, you were going to apologize and give me an explanation for what you did to me at the academy?"

"Yes, of course," Lucy replied. She paused for a moment before speaking again. "My bones are very dense. They weigh more than average and give me the advantage of having a tougher body."

Lucy tapped her head.

"I took a fifty caliber round from a Barrett bolt-action sniper rifle at 500 yards right in my head. It didn't kill me, but it punched a hole into my skull. Compressed my brain a bit, though I recovered. Ended up with a metal plate in my head and months of physical therapy re-learning how to walk and talk."

Jinx narrowed her eyes.

"What the fuck does this have to do with anything?" Jinx asked.

"Because I had long labored under the assumption that my bones were nigh unbreakable. Even a fifty caliber slug didn't shake that assertion, considering most people would have lost a large chunk of their skull." Lucy shook her head slowly. "Until you. You hexed me. I broke both my legs like matchsticks. That never happened before or since."

Lucy picked up her glass of water and took a drink while Jinx stared at her.

"Ok," Jinx said slowly, "So what?"

"Well, I couldn't let that slide. Especially not with Brother Blood and the other students watching."

Jinx blinked at that for a moment.

"You... you made an example of me," Jinx finally said.

"I made an example of you."

Jinx was flabbergasted. "Do you have any idea what you did to me? To my confidence? To my fucking psyche?"

Lucy shrugged. "I was working at HIVE Academy. Strength is everything. If I had let you walk away after you broke my legs, I would have had zero respect. And for my position as a teacher, zero respect can be extremely dangerous to my health. So yeah, I made an example of you. By the way, I see that your leg is better."

"Yeah, Raven healed me completely."

"Why didn't she just do that before?"

Jinx rubbed her chin. "Oh, that's because it's _none of your fucking business._ "

The waiter came over to the table with his notepad out. He did a brief double-take when he saw Jinx, but then he appeared to take it in stride.

"Welcome to Andre's! Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"I'm good with water," Jinx stated, still staring at Lucy.

"I'll have a dirty martini," Lucy said, looking up at the waiter, "Tell them to throw a splash of gin in it."

"Very good," The waiter replied, jotting down the order, "I'll be back with your drinks."

Jinx arched an eyebrow at Lucy. "Doing the liquid lunch route?"

Lucy shrugged. "I just like dirty martinis. Helps me loosen up a bit." The scarred woman gave Jinx a slow wink and a grin. "Also makes me much easier to get into the sack."

"Sorry, I don't swing that way and my BOYFRIEND might have an issue with me bedding drunken sociopaths."

Lucy shrugged again. "You should try switch hitting. It doubles the potential partners and can make sex amazing."

"Is that how you had the kid?"

"Well, that's how human reproduction works. Picked up this really hot Japanese businessman and his wife in Bangkok at a bar. They were on vacation, and I was just drunk and looking to get laid. Woke up the next morning with the two of them naked and hungover." Lucy grinned. "He was pretty good during round two that morning. But his wife was way better."

Jinx shook her head. "I haven't even eaten yet and I already want to throw up."

"Anyhoo, I found out I was pregnant a month later. Decided to carry it to term and then dropped it off at their house in Japan." Lucy shrugged. "I don't think his wife appreciated me showing up with her husband's illegitimate child to serve as a reminder that we both fucked her husband and only I wound up pregnant." Lucy took another sip of her water. "Fortunately for all involved, I didn't have to hurt anybody and they decided to adopt the baby. I guess they had been trying to conceive for months. Probably helps that I send them a half-million yen a month. Though I don't know how they spun the story of having a kid that's half Japanese and half, well, half ME."

Jinx blinked at the other woman for a moment.

"So you got knocked up from a one-night-stand, and then dumped the baby on the father?"

"That's pretty much it in a nutshell."

"That's fucking horrible!"

"Tell me about it," Lucy deadpanned, "I had to quit smoking and drinking for eight months! I still don't smoke any more, though I chew enough nicotine gum to push up that company's stock!"

"I'm not talking about you fucking smoking or drinking! What about that kid? You dumped her like unwanted baggage with a couple you barely knew? In Japan? Do you have any idea how the kids over there treat half-breeds? How do you know she isn't being abused or something? Why didn't you just abort it? Probably would have been nicer!"

Lucy gave Jinx a steady look. "Jinx, my life is not something I would wish upon anyone. It's dangerous and having known family can be considered a weakness that my enemies could exploit. I only decided to tell you about my kid because you're a good guy now, and you simply aren't the type to use that kind of info against someone. Besides, It really grew on me when I found out I was pregnant. Also, her dad really loves her a lot. His wife? Meh, not so much. She ended up leaving last year."

"Is she a meta like you?"

Lucy shrugged again. "Beats me. She doesn't even know who I am and I'm happier with it that way." Lucy leaned forward. "After all, I'm a fucking nightmare inducing hag, right?"

Jinx arched her eyebrow again. "Hey, you can't blame me for calling you that. You are a fucking nightmare inducing hag. Gave me nightmares." She leaned forward. "Don't you think that your kid is gonna wonder who her real mother is? She sure as fuck won't look like anyone else around her!"

"Guess I'll worry about that when she gets older. Anyway, hardship breeds strong character."

The waiter arrived with Lucy's martini and another glass of water for Jinx.

"Have you ladies decided what you wanted?"

"I'll have the spaghetti bolognese and a house salad," Lucy replied, handing the menu over.

Jinx quickly glanced down the menu to the most expensive item she could find.

"I'll have the Wagyu rib-eye. And a house salad."

Lucy arched an eyebrow at the pink Titan.

"Actually, that sounds good. I'll have that instead," Lucy said. She grinned at Jinx. "After all, I'm on vacation."

* * *

We arrived at Mass General around 6:30 that evening. Raven had re-applied her glamour before we left our room together. She felt it would be a good idea to keep it up and not reveal her real identity to my family members for the time being. I actually agreed with her, though I sorely missed seeing her beautiful real face.

"Mom?"

Mel had stayed outside to let me talk to my mother on my own. I sat down next to the bed and put my hand over hers. There was another bed in the room, but the elderly man that lay in it was clearly not awake. The only sign of life from him was the steady beep of his heart rate monitor.

My mother's hand looked so frail I felt my chest tighten up. When I grew up, I always saw my mother as a strong person. She was the rock, the support structure. For me and my older sister, my mother played the role of mother and father and she always seemed a limitless fount of strength that would be there to see us all through the hard times and laugh with us during the good times. Looking at her frail and tired form in a hospital bed just seemed so wrong for her. So wrong.

"Mom," I said again.

My mother opened her brown eyes and looked at me. She smiled.

"Oy, you're so loud. I heard you the first time."

"why didn't you and Mel tell me about the cancer?" I asked softly.

"You were busy and finally doing well. I didn't want you to be worried."

"So you thought it would be better for me to find out like this?" I said loudly. I was angry. So angry that my mother and sister decided to keep this from me. "You know that I'm a grownup now, right? That you don't have to fucking shield me from every damned thing!"

My mother just calmly watched me splutter until I calmed down.

"Are you finished?"

I nodded, though my eyes burned with unshed tears.

"I didn't want you to know because number one: you'd drop whatever you were doing to come home and take care of me. Mel lives nearby, so there was no need for you to come home. Number two: I thought I could beat this. The oncologists were optimistic that I could beat this. Unfortunately, God had other plans."

The door opened behind me and I heard the sound of someone walking up to the bed. I glanced up at Raven. She was looking at my mom.

"I'm sorry," Raven said, "Mel said it would be okay for me to come in." She looked at me uncertainly. "Do you want me to wait outside?"

Mom squinted up at my girlfriend. "And who are you, dear? Are you Mark's girlfriend?"

Raven glanced at me, her face slightly red. "Um, yes. My name is... Rachel."

"A good Jewish name!" my mother exclaimed. She looked back at me with a weak frown. "Maybe if you lost some more weight and got rid of that awful dirt on your face, Rachel would be less hesitant to call you her boyfriend!"

Raven blinked. "I'm, uh, not Jewish."

"Feh, nobody's perfect. But please, sit down with us. Mark was just yelling at me about having the gall to be dying."

"That's not what I was saying and you know it!" I growled.

"Oy," my mother repeated, putting one thin hand over her eyes, "To think it took me being near death to get you to come and visit!"

"Oh come off the guilt trip, Ma!"

"Mark, I am dying. At least leave me that one indulgence."

Raven watched us go back and forth, her eyes wide.

"Enough of this bad comedy routine," my mother said. She reached out to Raven. "Tell me about yourself, sweetheart, and how you met. I know that we Jewish mothers think our sons are God's gifts to women, but I'm a realist."

Raven blushed slightly as she glanced over at me. I saw her taking some deep breaths as she forced herself to relax lest her powers begin to manifest. After a moment, she looked at my mother and responded.

"Well, we work together. I guess that's how we met."

My mother waved her hand. "Sweetie, I figured you worked together. My son isn't the most sociable of boys, and he sucks at introductions. Let's try this again. My name is Elaine Goldman, dear. What's your name?"

"Rachel, Rachel Roth. It's nice to meet you, Mrs Goldman."

Mom's eyes widened slightly. She looked over at me.

"Do us a favor, Mark," Mom said, "Why don't you go see what Mel is up to, hmm? I'd like some girl talk with Miss Roth here."

I blinked at that. "You want me to leave while you interrogate my girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"What the fuck, Ma!" I exclaimed.

Mom frowned at me. "Language! I did not raise you to be so foul mouthed. Now get the fuck out and give me a few minutes with Rachel!"

"It's ok, Mark," Raven said to me.

I frowned, not liking this at all. Then I got up. "Fine, I had to hit the bathroom anyway. I'll be back in ten minutes." Then I left the room.

* * *

Raven watched Mark leave before turning to face his mother again.

"I didn't want to ask this while Mark was here, but... you wouldn't happen to be Angie Roth's daughter, would you?" Elaine asked.

Raven blinked at the older woman. "Angie Roth? Do you mean Angela Roth?"

"Yes! Angela!" Elaine grinned, "Is she your mother?"

Raven mentally reeled at the question for a moment. It had completely come as a surprise and the emotions coming off of the dying woman were intense.

"Y-yeah," Raven finally replied, her eyes still wide, "Yeah, she's my mother. How do you know her?"

"Ha! I knew it!" Elaine crowed, "You're her spitting image! Same black hair, same blue eyes! I knew your mother years ago when we lived in the same neighborhood! We knew the Roth family quite well. Angela's only a few years older than Mel, but she used to hang out with her when I was working. I think we were the only ones that called her Angie, though. Her father was our rabbi!"

Raven was speechless.

Elaine smiled gently. "You see, I never forget a face. Angela was gorgeous just like you. Really gentle when it came to people she liked. But that girl had one hell of a temper. Mel missed her a lot when she moved to New York." She motioned to the small nightstand next to the bed. "Would you be a dear and get me my phone? I want to see something."

Numbly, Raven retrieved the phone and handed it to Elaine. The older woman scrolled through the display for a moment, then handed the phone back to Raven.

"See? There she is!"

Raven peered at the image. It was an old scanned picture of a bunch of kids. There, near the center, it was unmistakable. There was Arella, preteen and dirty faced, scowling at the camera with fiery blue eyes. Holding Arella's hand was an even younger girl with brown hair and green eyes... Mel, Raven presumed.

"It certainly is a small world, isn't it? That picture was from 1990, just a few years before Mark was born." Elaine grinned. "Wow, Angie must have been just a little younger than you are when she had you! How is she doing now? Tell her she needs to call me!"

"I don't really... talk with my mother often."

Elaine frowned. "That's too bad. I know Angie was a huge pain in the ass when she was younger, but I would love to know what happened to her. Obviously she met someone special, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

Raven gritted her teeth slightly before replying.

"I think the term 'special' is a huge understatement for my father."

Elaine shrugged weakly. "Well, not everybody's father deserves a Dad-of-the-year award. Mark's father was pretty bad too." She motioned for Raven to come closer and then took her hands. "In any case, you have a big family living in Quincy! Have you ever met them?"

"'Met them?'" Raven repeated weakly, still processing this revelation.

"Yes dear! Your grandfather lives in Quincy!"

The door opened and Mel came in. She arched an eyebrow at Elaine holding onto Raven's hands.

"How are you feeling, Ma?" Mel asked, "Must be doing alright if you kicked Mark out to grill Rachel."

Elaine let go of Raven's hands and looked at Mel.

"You wouldn't believe who Rachel's mother is!"

Mel shrugged and glanced at Raven. "No offense, Rachel, but I'm not overly excited to know who your mom is." Mel cocked her head. "Would you mind grabbing Mark and getting him fed downstairs?"

Raven nodded slowly, still feeling slightly out of it. "S-sure." She looked at Elaine again. "It was nice meeting you, Mrs Goldman."

"Please, call me Elaine. I'm sure we'll see each other again, sweetie."

* * *

I stood by the coffee vending machine in the waiting area, trying to decide what coffee to get. Raven wandered up to me. Her face looked a little pale. I frowned at her.

"Are you ok?" I asked, wondering what my mother had said to Raven.

Raven shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm more interested in knowing if you're ok."

I shrugged. "I'm hanging in there. It's just weird seeing my mom like that. My mom is like the strongest person I know." My voice cracked. "I just can't imagine her like this, you know?"

Raven nodded, just letting me speak.

"I mean, mom is like a champion. She's bad-ass, you know? I mean, cancer? What the fuck?"

I noticed some water drip down onto my hand where I had my empty coffee cup.

"All I had growing up was my mom, you know?" I said shakily, "My dad was gone before I was born, and my sister is ten years older. I didn't have many friends growing up..."

I looked up at Raven, but her face seemed blurry to me.

"I mean, I gotta stay strong now, right?"

Raven reached out and pulled me into a hug. I found myself with my face buried against her neck. I clutched her tightly and the tears flowed as I cried.

I wasn't sure how long we stood like that, but after awhile, Raven pulled back and looked into my face.

"You won't tell anyone about that," she said, giving me a firm look.

"Not a soul," I said with a weak smile, "but thank you."

Raven rubbed her neck and looked with mild distaste at the wetness on her hand. Then she grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the exit.

"Wait," I said, "where are we going?"

"We're going for dinner. Your sister pretty much ordered me to get you fed."

* * *

"So it seems I might be Jewish."

I almost choked on the dried hamburger I was trying to force down. "W-what?"

Raven just looked blankly at her sandwich. "Apparently our mothers knew each other back in the day."

"I thought your mom was from Azarath. I'm pretty certain my mom has never been there."

"My mother's name used to be Angela Roth," Raven said, "Of the 'Boston Roths,'"

I felt a little bit of a chill watching Raven do air quotes.

"My mother apparently ran away to New York and fell in with a bad crowd. She became involved with the Cult of Scath and then became the pseudo Bride of Trigon and he got her pregnant. She ultimately ended up in Azarath where I was born."

I watched her for a moment.

"Well, shit." I said numbly, "But then that means you might actually have family living here in Boston!"

Raven looked at me with some uncertainty in her eyes.

"I grew up thinking that all the family I had in the universe were in Azarath," she said, "It never occurred to me that my mother might have had any relatives here on Earth. Also, she never mentioned them to me. I think maybe they disowned her. I doubt they would want to meet me seeing how I'm a half-demon freak."

"You aren't a half-demon freak," I said, "You are Raven of the Teen Titans. A superhero who saved the world more than once. If the Roths can't see how amazing and wonderful you are, fuck 'em."

* * *

We came back upstairs an hour later. I felt a little better now that I had some food in my stomach. Raven still looked a little dazed by the revelation of her family. Then I noticed a disturbance down the hallway.

My father.

Mel was standing in front of my dad with her arms out and calmly telling him that he could not see my mother.

Roman frowned. "She is my wife! You cannot stop me from coming to get her!"

"She doesn't want to go with you, Dad!" Mel yelled.

Security was starting to gather around. I glanced at Raven who was watching the situation like a hawk. I noticed her eyes slightly glowing.

"Sir," a security guard was saying, "You're going to have to leave."

My father shrugged off the guard's hand and drew a large gun from the back of his pants. Everyone backed away in an instant. Then, as if adding a cherry to the top of a psycho sundae, Dad tore off his turtleneck, revealing sticks of dynamite wrapped around his chest.

"Either my wife comes with me, or I take out this whole hospital wing," Roman said.

I blinked.

"How the fuck does this shit keep happening to me?" I murmured.


	17. Chapter 17

_Many apologies for the length of time between updates. There was a lot of things going on with life and work and all things between. Nothing bad, just a lot of things that I needed to handle. I pecked away at this chapter for quite awhile, but I'm mostly satisfied with how it turned out._

 _Special thanks to all who have reviewed me, favorited this story, or added this story to their alerts. You folks make it all worth it :-)_

 _So once again, I know I've said this about all my chapters, but this is essentially a rough draft. I fully intend on going through this whole story and doing a few more editing passes when it's finally complete. For now, I think there's at least a few more chapters before I start putting up the sequel story that I've also been working on. Pretty excited about that one! At any rate, I hope you enjoy this new chapter! :-)_

 _ **Standard disclaimer:** I don't own Teen Titans or any of these associated DC properties. I only claim ownership of my original characters._

 _-Meatlips_

* * *

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." I heard Raven say next to me.

Roman's arms were suddenly engulfed in black energy. His arms were pulled above his head and I saw the gun and a small device wrenched from his hands before he was suddenly slammed against the wall and then pressed face-first into the hospital floor.

I looked over at Raven and noticed her glamour was gone. Her amethyst eyes were narrowed and her hand was raised.

The security guards and medical staff kept staring between Raven and Roman on the floor. We slowly walked over as the band of dynamite around Roman's chest was pulled free and neatly rolled up.

Mel stared at Raven. "Holy shit! You really were her!"

"Let me up!" Roman bawled into the floor.

I knelt down next to the man who sired me.

"Look, Roman," I began, "I don't know what you thought you would accomplish by coming here and threatening to blow up the hospital..."

Roman mumbled something into the floor.

"What was that?"

My father suddenly looked up at me with fiercly angry green eyes.

"You would not understand the things I have gone through," he hissed, "or the things I have done to protect your mother and you!"

The police arrived and cuffed Roman, dragging him to his feet as Raven released her power.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, "You were gone almost my entire life! We didn't fucking need you, Roman!"

Roman ignored me as the cops led him away. A uniformed police woman took out a tablet and began to gather statements from the small crowd that had gathered. Mel reached out and grabbed me and Raven by the arms and pulled us into Mom's room, closing the door behind us.

Mom blinked up at us from the bed.

"What happened? Was that really your father out there?"

"Yeah ma," Mel replied, "The cops have him now."

Mom looked sad for a moment. "That's too bad. I really would have liked to have seen him."

"Why would you want to see him?" I growled, "didn't he beat the shit out of you and then walk out? Guy's a fucking asshole who showed up here and threatened to bomb the hospital if he couldn't see you!"

"Ah Roman," Mom murmured, her eyes growing distant, "Still trying to use a sledgehammer to pound nails." She glanced over at Raven. "Well, _tsatskelah_ , you certainly look different now."

Raven flushed slightly red. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to deceive you." She cocked her head. "' _tsatskelah_?'"

"It's a Yiddish term of endearment," Mom said, "More importantly though, are you really Angie Roth's daughter?"

Mel started at that and turned to stare at Raven. "What the... your mother is Angie Roth?"

Raven winced and glanced over at the room's other occupant. The old man in the other bed hadn't stirred at all and still appeared to be sleeping. His heart rate monitor continued to steadily beep. Mom waved her hand at him.

"Don't worry about him, _tatala_. When he takes his hearing aids out, Gerry is stone deaf. He's not going to wake up until at least 5:30 am when he gets an early start on annoying the nurses." Mom arched her eyebrow. "So were you telling me the truth?"

"Yes, I was telling the truth. My name is Raven. If I had a last name, I guess it would be Roth."

Mel dropped into a chair and stared at my girlfriend.

"I can't believe it! I haven't seen Angie in over twenty years! She was my best friend!" She glared at Mom. "This was the big secret, Ma?"

Mom was gazing at Raven. "I'm guessing there's a lot more to Angie's story than just meeting some guy in New York, hmm?"

I looked between the three of them before stepping in.

"Ma," I said with a frown, "Maybe some of this is best kept private, you know? Maybe Raven doesn't want to talk about it!"

"It's ok Mark," Raven said calmly. She regarded Mel and my mother with her own eyebrow raised. "My mother fell in with a cult, got knocked up by a demon, and had me in an alternate dimension."

Without missing a beat, my mother responded.

"Well, you're still Jewish from your mother's side."

Raven blinked at that.

Mel blinked and shook her head. "Ok, what the fuck? Angie did what with a demon?"

I frowned again. "Ok, are we forgetting about the psycho ex-husband who was just here with a gun and a bomb vest and threatening to blow us up if we didn't let him take you away?"

My mother turned to look at me with her patented Mom-stare. It was the stare that would stop me in my tracks when I was a kid, and it still had the same effect on me as an adult. It presented itself as a subtle hardening of her gaze that brooked no argument.

"Mark," Mom said, "Enough."

"But...!" I began.

"I said that's enough." Mom repeated, cutting me off. I shut my mouth. "Your father had many reasons for doing the things he did. I'm not going to make excuses for him, but he was still my husband."

The door opened and the floor nurse came in.

"Mrs. Goldman? Is everything ok?"

"Everything is just wonderful," Mom replied, "seeing how I'm still dying here."

"...Right," the floor nurse said. She glanced at the rest of us. "The cops want to talk to everyone on the floor." She focused on Raven. "Especially you."

"Understood," Raven said, "Do they want to talk to me now?"

"Yeah, if you'll come with me." The nurse paused for a moment, hesitating. "Hey, do you think you could also sign some autographs? There's a lot of Teen Titans fans here."

Raven blinked at that.

"Um, sure... I guess that's fine."

My mother waved at us from the bed.

"You should all just leave now. If you're lucky, you can get out of here in a few hours. I'll see you all tomorrow." Mom turned her Mom-stare on Raven who widened her eyes. "You come too, Raven- _ketzile_. I want to hear what happened with Angie. I'm also curious how my son ended up dating a Teen Titan. I expect to hear all about you tomorrow. I'm too tired right now and your fans await."

Raven blinked again. "Yes, ma'am?"

* * *

Lunch was fantastic. Jinx had never really had Wagyu beef before, and the exquisite seasoning of the perfectly seared meat had served to enhance the flavor to heavenly heights.

 _Me eating beef..._ Jinx grinned to herself. _Maaji would weep._

"I usually don't eat Wagyu beef since it's so expensive," Lucy said. She downed the remains of a Cabernet and smiled. "Especially for lunch. Dinner tonight is going to pale by comparison."

Jinx pushed her empty plate forward and leaned back, rubbing her full stomach.

"Hell yeah," Jinx burped and wiped her mouth with her napkin, "I knew it was good. It was also the most expensive thing on the menu and you offered to pay for lunch."

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Can I get you ladies anything else?" The waiter asked.

"What do you have on draft?" Jinx said.

The waiter arched an eyebrow. "I'll have to see some ID first, ma'am."

Lucy watched with a curious look on her face as Jinx pulled out a plastic ID card and slapped it down on the table. The waiter picked it up and studied it for a moment before looking at Jinx with an arched eyebrow.

"Something the matter?" Jinx asked.

"No indeed, ma'am," the waiter replied. He handed the ID back to Jinx. "We have some good local IPAs like Jump Kick as well as Sam Adams, Flat tire, Blue Moon, Yuengling, and Sapporo."

"I'll have the Jump Kick then," Jinx said.

The waiter nodded, then looked at Lucy.

"Another dirty martini with a splash of gin."

"Very good. Would either of you care to look at our dessert menu?"

"Nah, just the drinks," Lucy responded, still looking at Jinx. She reached out and snatched the ID from Jinx's hand as the waiter walked away.

"Irma Gunt?" Lucy asked after glancing at the ID. "You look amazing for 42, Irma."

Jinx snatched the ID back and returned the other woman's smirk. "It sounds so fitting when you say it."

"Oh I'm sure. Just as I'm also sure that waiter is going to tell the rest of the kitchen staff that he knows the secret identity of Jinx from the Teen Titans."

Jinx took a deep draught of her beer when it arrived and then sighed. She sat back in her chair and regarded the scarred woman across from her.

"Your accent is weird," Jinx said, "I can't place it. Where are you from, originally?"

"Well, isn't that a mystery?"

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to get all chummy," Jinx replied, "So spill on some deets here."

Lucy cocked her head. "Why are you so interested?"

"You keep asking that. Back at the academy we used to take bets on where you were from." Jinx smirked. "Since hell isn't a viable origin for most people, I would have lost the bet anyway."

Lucy blinked, then shrugged.

"Fine. Dad was from Capetown and Mom was from Beijing. I grew up mostly in Bangkok. Not quite like hell, but close enough. What about you?"

Jinx took another sip of beer.

"What about me?"

"Where were you hatched?" Lucy asked, "Was it hell?"

Jinx shook her head. "Born and raised in Mumbai."

Lucy blinked again. "Fuck off... you're Indian?"

"Yup. Surprised?"

"Actually yes. You don't look like any Indian I've ever met."

"Well you don't look like any half African and half Asian I've ever met either." Jinx rubbed her chin. "That red hair come from a bottle?"

Lucy shook her head. "Nope. Does that pink hair come from a bottle?"

"Nope."

"I'm glad we've gotten that all straightened out then."

"So another question," Jinx said, "You said having a kid sort of grew on you. Was the biological alarm clock ringing or something?"

Lucy leaned back and sipped from her martini.

"I'm starting to regret telling you about that. Also, that's a bit out of left field. Here I thought I was some nightmare inducing hag incapable of human emotion, but you're asking me such personal questions like I'm human or something."

Jinx frowned. "Come on, just tell me why you decided. You're single, in an obviously dangerous line of work, why would you want to have a baby?"

Lucy tilted her head back and scratched her chin while staring at the pink Titan.

"Fine," she finally said, "I'll tell you. When I found out I was pregnant, the logical part of my brain told me I should just end it. It was inconvenient. Dangerous. A vulnerable link to me. Then I really thought about it. Here I was, 28 years old, single. Money wasn't a problem, I have plenty. Could this be an opportunity to start over? Do something normal? Become a regular civilian?"

Lucy absently rubbed the rim of her martini glass with one finger, a musing look on her face.

"When you're young, you think everything is going to last forever," she said softly, "That you'll have all the time in the world to make a mark that will be remembered. I thought maybe this kid was my ticket out. That it could be my legacy. My way of contributing to the world at large that didn't involve dealing with scumbags."

Lucy smiled. "So I said 'fuck it.' It wasn't like I just popped her out and flew to Japan to dump her on her dad's doorstep. Four months into the pregnancy, I found a place in Norway. Really nice place that was next to a lake. It was near a cute little picturesque town that looked like something out of a Bob Ross painting. Wintertime there was so beautiful. The snow would cover everything like a big white blanket. Everything was quiet and I hadn't really lived with genuine snow before. Always wanted to live in a place like that. Figured it would be a great place to retire and have a kid. When I had the baby..."

Lucy trailed off and was quiet for a moment, her face drawn.

"It was twenty six hours of pure fucking hell. Pregnancy sucks. The back pain, the swollen ankles, the hemorrhoids, the weird food cravings..." Lucy paused, her face turning slightly ashen. "Do you know what _rakfisk_ is?"

Jinx shook her head. "No."

"I don't recommend Googling it." The scarred woman shuddered. "Anyway, twenty-six hours of labor and the kid finally came out."

Lucy sighed.

"I looked at this dark little wrinkled human. The culmination of all that pain and aggravation. And I realized that there was no way in hell I could do this."

Jinx blinked at the frown on the other woman's face.

"Do what?" Jinx finally asked.

"Be someone's mom. I'm not a mother. I never can be nor do I want to be." Lucy sipped her martini again. "Life isn't simply switching masks and living happily ever after. I couldn't look into her little face without thinking of the day everything I've done finally catches up to me."

Lucy finished her martini and smiled wryly.

"Also, being a woman doesn't automatically make you super-mom. There's none of this ' _Oh, I'll just know what to do when I need to_ ' bullshit. The first time I changed her diaper, I thought I was gonna throw up all over her. It sucked and I hated it. I hated not being able to sleep. I hated having chapped nipples all the time from breastfeeding. I hated playing the ' _holy shit, what the fuck is she crying about now_ ' game every day.

"So after three months of trying to be June Cleaver and fighting the urge to just leave her in the woods, I packed all my shit, flew to Tokyo, and tracked down her father's home address."

Jinx shook her head. "So you gave up."

"Yup. I gave up. Jinx, my life sucks. I hurt people. Sometimes I kill people. You're right, I'm not really a nice person by any means. But we all pay a price for walking the paths we choose." Lucy held up her empty martini glass. "So I drink and remind myself that I dodged a bullet by making her someone else's problem. Then I wonder how she's doing." Lucy dropped her gift bag on the table. "And when I do, I send presents like an asshole. No idea if her father even gives them to her. He has no problem taking my money every month though."

Jinx quietly watched Lucy as the other woman flagged down the waiter and ordered another martini.

"Goddammit," Lucy grumbled, "Whenever I drink, I get all fucking maudlin. No idea why I'm even telling you all this. If I was anywhere else, I'd be at a bar hammering back straight shots of Jack D and getting in the face of the biggest asshole there because bar fights are more fun."

Jinx shook her head again. "Wow, you really are a selfish bitch."

Lucy shrugged. "As a wise one-eyed sailor once said: 'I yam what I yam and dat's all dat I yam.'"

"Yeah? Well what are you going to do when the day comes that your kid wants to actually meet you?"

Lucy grinned and saluted with her martini. "Worry about it then. But enough about me. I find talking about myself to be boring." She waved her hand idly in the air. "Tell me what the deal is with your girl Raven and your boy Mark."

Jinx cocked her head at that.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because she's hot. I mean crazy fucking hot. And he's a fat white guy. Not even tall or bear-like, just average height and fat. Not that Shade was the ideal mate, but he was way better looking. Her turning him down was like turning down a perfectly seared high-end steak in favor of a frozen pizza."

Jinx bit back a laugh at the analogy.

"That seems fitting, Mark as a frozen pizza," Jinx said with a smirk. She tapped her chin for a moment. "You really think Raven is hot, huh?"

Lucy nodded, her face serious.

"I would absolutely not say no to a night in the sack with Raven," Lucy deadpanned, "Even though she scares the piss out of me."

Jinx arched her eyebrow at that. "Raven scares you? I thought you had no fear."

Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Where did you get that crazy idea? Fear is a damned healthy thing to have in my line of work. It keeps me alive and limits the fuck-ups. So yeah, metas like Raven scare the piss out of me. But back to the question at hand. Why Mark? I mean I talked to him briefly while I was at your Tower and he seemed kind of an oblivious idiot. I read his JLU file. I didn't think he was the type to throw himself in front of a rampaging metahuman."

Jinx frowned. "How the fuck did you see his JLU file? For that matter, why the fuck did you want to read it?"

"Just need to know the right people and have enough money," Lucy replied, "and I only read it because it was the only file I could get out of this contact. JLU really locks down their hero database. I wanted to find out more about the rest of you Titans in case I had to engage you in something other than friendly conversation. Since I couldn't get that info, I had to rely on my professional instincts and decided that staying within the bounds of friendly conversation would help keep me out of prison and/or the hospital."

Jinx arched her eyebrow. "I see."

"You still haven't answered the question though," Lucy continued, "Why is Raven with Mark?"

Jinx shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe cuz he's hung like a frigging rhino?"

Lucy blinked. "Say what?"

"I said maybe because Mark's got a big dick." Jinx smirked. "What, that wasn't in his file?"

The scarred woman narrowed her eyes at Jinx. "Obviously not. How would you know something like that? You bang him too?"

Jinx shook her head. "No, of course not. I told you I have a boyfriend already. A few months ago I happened to catch a glimpse of Mark's package when he was changing clothes. I swear it looked like it just kept going and going."

Lucy took a sip of her freshly delivered martini. "So you're telling me that Raven is only with this guy because he's got a big dick." She shook her head slowly. "Totally not buying it. She doesn't seem the shallow type."

Jinx arched her eyebrow. "You were just musing that Shade would have been a better choice because he was prettier. So then maybe she's with Mark because she actually likes him, hmm?"

Lucy blinked again, then grinned. "Ah, I see what you did there! So she's really with him because she likes that type, huh? So he's not really hung?"

"Oh no, Mark really is Penisaurus. I'm saying that's not the reason why Raven is with him. She actually likes him a real lot."

Lucy snorted. "'Penisaurus?' Consider that one stolen."

"Steal away," Jinx said. She took another swig of her beer, then she peered at the scarred woman. "On another note, seeing how you mentioned Shade, what did you do with him?"

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. I know that Nightwing let you take him. Did you kill him?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes again and leaned forward. "Think carefully, Jinx," she said, "and ask yourself if you really and truly want to know."

Jinx blinked and shrugged. "Well, yeah. I wanna know. Wouldn't of asked otherwise."

Lucy stared at the pink Titan for a moment. Then she leaned back and chuckled.

"No, I didn't kill him. But I'm sure he wishes I had."

Jinx stared back at the scarred woman, then she shook her head.

"Nevermind about just being a selfish bitch. You're also fucking crazy."

"Nobody sane would do the kind of work I do."

Jinx was quiet for a moment. "You know," she began, "Seeing you in that dumb t-shirt and listening to you whine about how motherhood simply wasn't for you, I think I figured out something."

"Oh? What's that?"

"You aren't really that fucking scary."

Lucy arched an eyebrow again. "Is that a good thing?"

Jinx grinned her Chesire cat grin. "Yeah. Makes me not want to see you die in an UNFORTUNATE accident."

Lucy returned the grin. "I make a much better friend than accident victim." She held up her martini. "To friendship?"

Jinx held up her beer and clinked the martini glass. "Sure, why not? To friendship."

* * *

Raven glanced at the kitchen clock. The police had kept them at the hospital for a few hours before letting them leave. Now it was pushing eleven o'clock and Raven could feel the exhaustion of the day sinking into her bones.

"So... Raven," Mel began slowly, "Um... what are you really doing in Boston?"

Raven blinked from where she sat at the kitchen island.

"I already told you before," Raven replied, "I'm here with Mark because he's my boyfriend."

Mel crossed her arms and studied the dark Titan's face for a moment. "You can come clean, you know. If you're here for some kind of secret mission or something..."

Raven shook her head. "No, I'm really telling you the truth."

"You and Mark are dating?"

"Yes."

"My little brother is going out with Raven from the Teen Titans."

"Yes."

Mel shook her head. "Sorry, I'm having a bit of a hard time swallowing that. You're a superhero. A pretty famous one too. Half the cops we met with tonight wanted your autograph. Why on earth would you be dating my schlub of a brother?"

Raven stood up and gestured towards the kettle on the stove.

"Do you mind if I make some tea?" she asked.

Mel shrugged. "Go ahead. But you aren't off the hotseat. What are you doing with my brother?"

Raven filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove. Then she turned to face Mel and crossed her arms.

"Why is it so hard to believe that I would date your brother?"

"Because he's Mark. He's abrasive, opinionated, blunt, kind of a idiot when he gets pissed off." Mel counted on her fingers as she spoke. "He's also chubby, fish-belly white, introverted, clueless..."

Raven pulled back her sleeve. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not exactly rocking a tan here. Corpse pallor isn't the new sexy these days." She put her sleeve back down. "I'm also introverted, I can be bitchy when annoyed..."

"But you're Raven of the Teen Titans!" Mel interrupted, "And honey, you're beautiful. Nobody should be telling you otherwise. You also work in a world that is pretty much dominated by men in skintight costumes that are rocking the bodies of Adonis."

Raven winced. "Adonis is kind of a bad comparison..."

"My point is, you could have your choice of much better men. Why Mark?"

Raven frowned. "I think you undersell your brother. He's a good man. He treats me wonderfully. He's funny, cute... he can make light of almost any situation. He's there for me in ways that nobody has ever been before. He's fun to be around. The rest of the Titans have gotten very attached to him. And I like him."

Mel arched her eyebrow. "Only 'like?'"

Raven took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Fine, I love him. He makes me..." Her face lightly flushed. "He makes me happy. For someone like me, that's not something I can admit to lightly."

The kettle began to whistle and Raven took it off the burner. She poured herself a cup of tea and then looked at Mel.

"Do you want a cup?"

Mel shook her head. "Can't really stand tea. I only really keep it for guests." She scratched her chin. "So you really love Mark. Well, you're definitely a step up from his last girlfriend."

"The Japanese girl?" Raven asked.

"Oh," Mel replied, "You know about her?"

"Just that she was very goth."

Mel frowned as she sat down at the table. "You have no idea. She came to Thanksgiving dinner one time and lectured us on how awful we were for eating turkey and how we could never understand that turkey's pain."

Raven blinked. "Well... that's certainly extreme."

"It was a genuine relief when she dumped Mark." Mel continued to stare into Raven's face until Raven began to feel a little uncomfortable. The emotions Raven could feel pouring off Mel were mostly mild anxiety over Mel's mother, but there was a strong undercurrent of curiosity.

"You know, you do actually look a little like Angie," Mel finally said, "I'm surprised I didn't notice it earlier when you were... what do you call that disguise thing you were doing?"

"Glamoured?"

"Yeah, when you were glamoured."

"Hmm," Raven murmured, "What was my mother like when she was young?"

Mel grinned and Raven could feel satisfaction and some nostalgia emanate from her.

"Angie was an asskicker! Nobody in the neighborhood fucked with her. This one time, there was this neighborhood bully that used to pick on me. Angie broke his nose and sent him crying home."

Mel shook her head, still smiling. "Angie also used to hang out and babysit Mark with me. I think Mark was probably around two years old when Angie split. Actually, I'm not surprised she left."

"Why is that?"

"Your mom grew up in a pretty strict household," Mel replied, "Her dad was the community rabbi. When Angie turned fifteen, he really started putting the screws to her about her becoming more of a proper lady. Angie, well, she rebelled. The day she left, she came by our house while my mother was working and I was babysitting. I'll never forget it. Angie was standing there in her torn jeans, flannel shirt, and her backpack. Told me she was going to New York. Gave me a big hug, and kissed Mark on his head. Then she split. It was the last I ever saw of her."

Raven mused for a moment. The image of the austere disciple of Azar being a rebellious teenager in jeans and flannel... it seemed almost alien to the woman Raven knew growing up.

"Raven," Mel said quietly, her eyes searching Raven's face, "Is... is Angie still alive?"

Raven blinked at that. "Yes, she's alive."

The relief that flowed out of Mel was almost overwhelming.

"That's... that's great. Is she doing ok? Do you think... I could call her?"

Raven shook her head. "My mother lives in a dimension called Azarath in a city of the same name. They don't have phones there."

"Oh, well..." Disappointment now flowed from the other woman. "It's just that I haven't heard from her in so long. I really miss her."

Raven grabbed another teacup and poured a second cup of tea.

"Your mom told me you were close to my mother." Raven picked up the second cup. "I don't know when I'll see her again, but I will definitely tell her about you. She might find a way to communicate."

Mel perked up. "You think so?"

Raven shrugged. "It's hard to say. My relationship with her growing up was... unconventional. It's hard for me to tell what she may or may not do." She held up the two steaming cups. "Do you mind if I take these upstairs?"

"Not at all. Just please use some coasters."

"Understood. Thank you. Goodnight, Mel."

"Goodnight Raven."

* * *

I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. My mind was awash with everything that had happened over the last week. First my car was trashed, but I had gotten over that. Then the situation with Shade, followed by the situation with my mother, and the situation with my father going psycho, I felt tired. Worn out. I absently ran my tongue over the metal healing cap in my mouth as I mused. I heard the bedroom door open and Raven came in. She had a pair of steaming teacups in her hands and she put one on a coaster and floated it to the nightstand.

"I made you some tea."

I sat up and breathed in the steam coming from the cup. Chamomile. I smiled and looked at Raven as she settled herself in one of the thick chairs in the room.

"Thanks," I said.

Raven regarded me with one eyebrow arched as she seemed to search my face.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

I took a sip of tea. "Like my mind is on overload. This has been the week from hell." I gazed back into her amethyst eyes. "What about you? How are you taking the whole family revelation thing?"

"Well firstly, I didn't realize how close your sister was to my mother."

I smiled. "I would never have imagined we were connected like that. I mean, what are the odds of your mom knowing my family?"

Raven was quiet for a moment. "It's really weird for me," she finally admitted.

"How so?"

"I told you before that when I was growing up in Azarath, I had limited contact with my mother. So she always came across as being very... aloof." Raven sighed. "But listening to Mel talk about her just now... it's like a completely different woman. She apparently knew you pretty well."

I blinked at that. "She did?"

"Mel told me Arella, I mean, Angela, used to help her babysit you."

"It really is a small world," I breathed. I cocked my head. "What about the rest of your mom's family? How are you doing with that?"

Raven shrugged. "Thinking logically, it's obvious that I could have more family on my mother's side. I should have considered the possibility and researched her past a bit when I first came over from Azarath. But it never occurred to me."

"Do you want to visit them?"

Raven turned and gazed out the window into the night.

"I really don't know. My grandfather apparently is a rabbi. Mel said he was strict with my mother. How would he reconcile his daughter having the child of a demon? What would he think of me?"

I came over and knelt down in front of Raven. Then I took her hand and nuzzled her palm.

"Like I said before," I murmured, "If they can't see you for who you are, fuck 'em. I mean, you only like, saved the world or something."

Raven put her teacup down and cupped my cheeks with her hands. Then she pulled my face to her lips and kissed me deeply. I looked around with wide eyes to make sure nothing was in danger of exploding.

"I meditated this afternoon while you napped," Raven said softly, "while I've made a lot of progress fixing the damage Shade did to my psyche, I've gotten much better at controlling my outbursts."

I moved in to kiss her again but she stopped me with a finger to my lips. "No sex in here though. I still need the barrier to keep from destroying things and I don't want to have to explain to your sister what that red powder circling the bed is for."

"Well... shit," I sighed. I stood up and opened up my backpack to take out my bathroom kit.

"Disappointed?" Raven asked with a small smirk.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," I replied, "But I'll get over it. We're both really beat anyway. I think I'm gonna take a shower and hit the sack."

I closed the guest bathroom door and stripped down to my birthday suit. Looking at my haggard and tired face in the mirror I wondered for the umpteenth time what it was that Raven saw in me. Then I felt amazingly lucky that she had come with me on this trip. I really couldn't have faced the spectre of my mother dying with just my sister.

I turned on the shower and waited until it got warm enough to jump in, then I climbed into the tub and let the hot water cascade down my face and sighed. After a moment, I heard the bathroom door open and close and then I noticed Raven's pale sleek body as she climbed into the shower with me.

"Two things," Raven said as I ran my eyes up and down her amazing body, "One, don't hog the hot water."

"What's the other thing?" I asked.

Raven held up a small vial with red powder in it.

"It will be easier to clean this off the edge of the bathtub than it would be vacuuming it out of the rug in the bedroom."

I arched an eyebrow as she began to lay out the barrier spell.

"Won't it wash away from the shower?"

Raven completed the spell and the barrier briefly glowed.

"I said it would be easier to clean it off. We'll just have to use some mild abrasive to do it."

She stepped into my arms and I gently kissed her and held her tightly.

"I don't know," I said softly, "Will you be able to stay quiet?"

"Hmm..." Raven murmured back. She looked into my eyes and gently stroked my cheek. "I think a better question is will you?"

I tried my damndest.

* * *

I lay with my head resting against Raven's chest, listening to her steady heartbeat. Then I felt her lean her heavy book against the top of my head.

"Aren't you tired?" I murmured.

Raven raised the book up to look down into my eyes. Her face was practically glowing and I swore I could feel her contentment and satisfaction almost flowing off her like a wave.

"I'm a little tired," Raven replied with an arched eyebrow, "but you know I can't sleep unless I finish a chapter."

I lifted my head up and moved up next to her on the bed.

"What are you reading?"

Raven lifted her heavy tome and showed me the cover.

"Moby-Dick?" I asked, "Some light reading before bedtime, huh?"

Raven shrugged. "I've actually read this before, but I keep coming back to it. This is the original unabridged American version. First edition."

I blinked at that. "That's a first edition? Isn't that like, valuable or something?"

Raven nodded. "It's really valuable. But I prefer reading these original editions. The smell of the old paper, the feel of the leather bindings, it really transports me."

Out of curiosity, I grabbed my phone and plugged a query into the search engine for the usual value of a first edition copy of Moby-Dick. Then I gawked at the returned results.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed, "Raven, you should be keeping that thing in a safe! You brought that on the plane with us?"

Raven gave me a sharp look.

"Books are meant to be read. Where's the value in leaving them on a shelf?"

I stared at her for a moment longer before rolling on my back and chuckling. I turned my head to face her with a big stupid grin on my face.

"You have no idea just how happy you make me," I said.

"Actually," Raven replied as she slipped her bookmark between the pages of her book, "I do know. Empath, remember?"

She put the heavy book on the nightstand and turned off the light. Then we rolled into each other.

"Mmm," I murmured into Raven's chest, "you are so snuggly."

"You are such a sap," Raven murmured back, "And I've been called many things, but 'snuggly?'"

"You love it."

"Hmmm... maybe."

I was quiet for a moment.

"Hey, I know you probably don't want to talk about it," I began, "but why do you think that Beast Boy, Jinx, and I weren't affected by Shade's psychic whatever?"

Raven seemed to ponder the question for a moment before answering.

"Jinx and Beast Boy were unaffected?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"I didn't have a chance to debrief with Nightwing after everything was over," Raven admitted, "So I missed a few things."

Raven fell silent for a few more moments, then she spoke again.

"I have a couple of theories off the top of my head," she said, "Beast Boy is wired like an animal. He clearly wasn't Shade's biggest fan. I think the beast in him must have rejected any sort of psychic influence from someone like Shade. Jinx... her powers delve into the realm of causality. She can literally manipulate cause and effect. I suspect that her brain was also rejecting the influence due to its wiring."

"And what about me?"

I felt Raven shift slightly.

"I think... I was unconsciously protecting you."

I pulled back a little so I could look up into Raven's face.

"Really?"

It was hard to tell in the low light, but I was reasonably certain Raven's face turned slightly red.

"We have a sort of... bond," she said, "I didn't think of it before until I talked to Jinx, but the dream you had the night before Shade showed up... it was actually my dream."

I frowned. "Jinx told you about that? So you were dreaming that you were kissing another dude?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at me. "People dream such things all the time. You happened to witness my dream from a different perspective. We tend to project our feelings in our dreams, so to me for all I knew, I could have been kissing you. I barely remembered the dream because you woke me up. Through our bond."

I lay my head back against Raven's chest and hugged her a little tighter.

"So we have a bond," I murmured.

"Like I said, all I have are theories right now," Raven said softly. She gently ran her hand through my hair. "I know we have a bond, but I haven't had a chance to really research things."

I felt my eyelids getting heavy as the steady beat of Raven's heart began to lull me to sleep.

"I'd love to hear how we developed this bond," I said with a yawn, "I think it really makes us much closer."

"...right," Raven murmured, sounding slightly embarrassed. "How about I tell you about that some other time?"

"Mmm, sure," I whispered. Then I dozed off.

* * *

Jinx had never seen anyone who could drink as much as Lucy appeared capable of. After lunch, the two of them had gone to a nearby bar in a posh part of town and Jinx witnessed Lucy start with a few more martinis before devolving into straight shots of whiskey. Then Lucy surprised the pink Titan again by handing over the keys to her BMW as they left the bar.

"You drive, kid," Lucy said, "I tend to drive slower when drinking."

Jinx took the proffered keys and frowned.

"Lucy, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm getting drunk," Lucy responded with a grin, "What does it look like?"

"It looks like an older woman making an asshole out of herself," Jinx shot back.

Lucy frowned. "I'm not that much older! I'm only 31 for fucks sake!"

"I'm not even twenty yet. So to me, you're fucking old."

After bar hopping the rest of the afternoon, they finally stopped at a dingy place on the waterfront. The motorcycles and souped up cars that were parked around the place seemed to indicate the dangerous clientele of this particular establishment. Over the door of the entrance, a sign read:

 **No MH Served Here**

"Well, that's a welcoming sight," Jinx muttered. She glanced over to Lucy. "What are we even doing at this dump? There are much nicer watering holes uptown where the food served is probably cockroach-free."

"Are you kidding?" Lucy exclaimed, "This place is perfect for a barfight!"

"I don't want to get into a barfight, you crazy bitch!" Jinx growled, "I just want to get something to eat for dinner and have a beer, and THIS place looks about as inviting as the city dump!"

Lucy ignored the pink Titan and walked into the bar. Jinx sighed and followed suit.

Inside, the dingy decorum really fit the customers that were clustered around the bar at the back. A battered jukebox blasted some '80s heavy metal while some grizzled biker types played pool on the worn tables to the side. Jinx wrinkled her nose at the stench of stale beer that permeated the atmosphere.

Lucy marched up to the bar and slapped her hand down.

"Gimme two shots of Jack D!"

The loud conversations around the bar seemed to screech to a halt. The bartender, a skinny man with greasy hair and a dirty apron frowned at the scarred woman.

"I think you're in the wrong place, lady," the bartender said through chipped front teeth.

Lucy frowned. "What are you talking about? This is a bar, you serve booze, I have money. How am I in the wrong place?"

"Jimmy means he doesn't cater to people like you," A huge sized bald man approached the bar. The other patrons parted before him as he came over. He looked down at the shorter woman.

Jinx watched in disbelief as Lucy stood slightly swaying as if unsteady on her feet. The scarred woman frowned at the taller man before replying.

"What kind of people are you inferring here?" Lucy demanded, "you mean black women or Asian women or pink women? Or do you mean... metahumans?"

"Now Spike," the bartender said warily, eyeing the tall man, "just calm down. I didn't ask for your help and I don't want any trouble again!"

The muscular tall bald man who answered to the name 'Spike' glanced back at the bartender.

"Don't worry about it, Jimmy. I'm not so crass as to hit some drunk chick who's runnin' her mouth off."

"You still haven't answered my question, cueball," Lucy growled. She poked Spike in the chest with one finger. "Just what did you mean by 'people like you?'"

Spike looked at Jinx with his eyes narrowed.

"You gonna do anything about your friend before she gets herself hurt, pinky?"

Jinx shrugged. It felt like she was watching a train wreck in slow motion.

"Nah. Not my problem."

Spike blinked at that, then turned his attention back to Lucy.

"Look bitch," he said, "why don't you and your pink friend just get the fuck out of here?"

"Why don't you make us, limp-dick?"

Spike's hand lashed out and Lucy's head rocked back with the force of the slap. Jinx arched an eyebrow at that.

Lucy rubbed her cheek before grinning up at Spike.

"You call that a hit?" she jeered, "I thought you were gonna man up or something. Your mother kissed me harder than that after I ate her out!"

Spike's eyes went wide and his nostrils flared. He gritted his teeth and threw a haymaker that would have knocked anyone else into next week. Lucy seemed to smoothly move to the side, her hand landing on Spike's wrist as his punch flew by. She pulled him forward and her elbow connected with the bridge of his nose.

Several other men jumped to their feet and ran in to attack as Spike fell to his knees, clutching his shattered nose. Jinx sighed and rubbed her forehead.

Lucy threw her fists up in a guard position and danced around several punches thrown in her direction. She kicked the legs out from under one attacker. Then she grabbed his chin and belt, lifting him up into the air and throwing him down onto a table, collapsing it. Her fist connected with another attacker's face with a dull crunching sound that sent the large man falling backwards before she finally grabbed the head of the last attacker and dragged his face down into her knee, crushing the bridge of his nose. All four men were laying on the floor and groaning in pain. The other bar patrons backed away from the mess.

Jinx sighed. Then she stared at Lucy as the scarred woman pulled Spike up from the floor in a chokehold that had the large man gasping and trying to grab at Lucy's arm. The look on Lucy's face was one that Jinx was very familiar with. It was the same expression that the scarred woman had on that day at H.I.V.E. academy.

"You never answered my question," Lucy said in a cold voice, "What kind of people were you talking about when you said 'people like you?'"

"Lucy," Jinx said, her eyes narrowing, "Enough. Let him go."

"I think we're owed an explanation," Lucy responded, her voice sounding even colder.

Jinx slipped forward, moving behind the other woman. She slid her own arm around Lucy's neck and held up a pink glowing hand to the side of the scarred woman's face.

"I said let him go. Now."

Lucy glanced at the glowing hand near her face, then she let Spike go. The larger man fell to his hands and knees, gasping and taking deep lungfuls of air.

"We're done here," Jinx said. She glanced at the bartender. "Send the bill for damages to Titans Tower."

The bartender nodded nervously as Jinx grabbed Lucy's wrist and pulled the other woman outside. When they got to the alley where the car was parked, Jinx spun around to confront Lucy.

"What the fuck was that?" Jinx demanded.

Lucy's face still looked icy.

"Randall 'Spike' James," Lucy finally said, "Skinhead. Arrested last year for the rape and murder of Loretta Williams. Police thought it may have been a hate crime because Loretta was a metahuman. Because the cops forgot to let him have his lawyer there during his questioning and DNA test, it was all thrown out in court. As a result, the evidence wasn't enough to convict. He got acquitted. Her family isn't very rich, but they reached out to me. This is pro-bono work."

"You were on a fucking job?" Jinx seethed, "What happened to taking a few days off in Jump City?"

Lucy shrugged. "Sometimes it's easier to do things this way. I knew he was here. He deserves what I'm going to do to him."

"You don't get to fucking decide punishments, _Fixer_ ," Jinx said, "I want you out of Jump City before morning."

Lucy arched an eyebrow at the pink Titan.

"You don't really have the authority to make me leave, you know."

"Hmm, I guess you're right on that," Jinx replied. She pointed at the scarred woman and a burst of pink energy flew from her fingertip and hit the street and Lucy's left shin. A pothole suddenly opened up beneath Lucy's leg and she toppled over, her leg snapping with a sickening crack.

Lucy stared in disbelief at her awkwardly bent leg from where she landed on her ass.

"What the...?"

Jinx knelt down next to the injured woman and arched an eyebrow.

"Oh come on, you didn't think it was gonna be all roses and rainbows and water under the bridge, did you?" Jinx asked, "I lost a lot of sleep over the years because of what you did to me. And it all came back when I watched you almost kill that guy."

Lucy favored the pink Titan with a pained grin.

"You never cease to amaze me, Jinx," Lucy replied with a gasp of pain, "I should have expected something like this from you. You're a really vindictive bitch to carry a grudge this long." The mercenary woman cocked her head. "What makes you think I won't do the same thing again to you? You are awfully close, you know."

"Because I'm older and a lot more dangerous than I was back in the H.I.V.E. Academy," Jinx said, "And you also revealed a little secret to me."

"Oh? What was that?"

"You told me that metas like Raven scare the piss out of you." Jinx grinned. "I am a meta like Raven. I could stop your heart, cause an aneurysm, all kinds of fun things. Causality is quite the bitch, huh?"

Lucy stared back at Jinx for a moment, then she leaned back and chuckled.

"Fine, you're right. You do scare me, Jinx. That's why I would never take on someone like you directly. Not without a shit-ton of planning." Lucy turned to look back at the pink Titan again. Her eyes were dead cold again. "But I have hunted metas like you for the right price. And I've taken down more than a few. You might want to consider actually going through with your death threats. You could easily make it look like an accident."

Jinx affected a bored look. "Oh stop with the melodramatic 'watch-your-back' bullshit already. Consider this a favor here."

Lucy blinked. "Favor? How so?"

"It's going to take a while for your leg to heal. You obviously can't work your usual gigs until then. Go to Japan and see your daughter, for chrissakes." Jinx cocked her head. "Let's face it, we both have had shitty childhoods. Why don't you make sure she doesn't have one like you did?"

"How do you know..."

"Seriously? Lucy, you wouldn't be in this line of work and be so fucking sociopathic if you grew up in a happy home with a happy family that hugged you a lot. Go get a cast put on and then go see your kid. Stop being such a selfish cunt already."

Jinx stood up and looked down at the injured woman.

"I will take care of Spike James and I'll do it through the proper channels. As for you, if you feel like you need to sooth your injured pride when you get back from Japan, then come see me again. We can straighten that shit right out." Jinx grinned again. "Or we can go out for dinner and drinks and you can show me pictures of your brat. I don't hate you anymore."

"That's good to know," Lucy said through gritted teeth, "I was serious about being a better friend than a victim." She cocked her head. "By the way, I wasn't going to kill him."

"Oh? And what were you going to do then?"

"Hurt him a real lot, then get the cops to check his pockets when they show up. Maybe this time they can get some charges to stick with the incriminating evidence they'll find in there."

Jinx stared at the scarred woman for a moment longer before shrugging.

"Whatevs. I'm sure you're real crafty and shit." She tossed Lucy's car keys to the injured woman. "I'll call you an ambulance. You probably don't wanna be driving, what with a broken leg and all."


End file.
